Undertale: Multiverse Odyssey
by Ben10Extreme
Summary: Chara's desparation to save Asriel incurs Error's wrath. The UT crew survives with Ink!Sans and Core!Frisk's intervention, but their Universe is critically damaged. They're on an odyssey through the Multiverse, assisting other AU's in danger of sharing a similiar fate. They have to strengthen themselves to protect each other, because they're all they have left of their home.
1. But We Refused: Part One

**I really shouldn't be doing this...but you know what? Screw it.**

 **This is a new UT story of mine, completely separate from my other UT series, which I WILL be putting most of my focus into. I just felt like getting this out because it wouldn't leave me alone. And this one...is gonna have focus on AU's.(Yeah, I know. Originality at it's finest.) Unlike what I TRIED to do in the now discontinued 'The New Frontier', which tore away my intended focus on the Surface(My bad!)I'm keeping this one separate from the other story series. This one will also be somewhat darker than the other series, because of what happens in the beginning...**

 **Now realize...it's merely a prompt that I just wanted to get out, and I am interested in it myself. Depending on how well the first chapter receives, if anyone else is interested, I might continue it. I'm still mostly focused on 'Our New Era', though.**

 **Sound good?**

 **Maybe.**

 **Who knows.**

 **Whatever. Story might be off to a rocky start...but hope you enjoy the intro to this prompt!**

 **Something important to mention: Frisk and Chara will be referred to as Gender-Neutral this time around. They are male in my other series because that's how I saw them both. But considering that this shall be a multiverse-focused story...why not? If I make mistakes in this regard along the way, let me know, so I can correct them accordingly.**

 **Chapter Start!**

* * *

 **(Ruins)**

 _"Someone has to take care of these flowers..."_

Asriel remembered saying this to Frisk before he left a while ago with his friends and family. Leaving the poor, defeated Prince here to watch over the Golden Flowers in the Ruins. Just a little while longer before his true personality vanishes and he goes back to being Flowey again. Someone neither Frisk or Asriel wanted, but could not prevent even if they tried.

To be honest, Asriel was scared. Terrified, even. Who wouldn't be? Who wouldn't be terrified when you slowly begin to realize that whatever was left of your former self will no longer be there? That personality will be locked away again, and all that remains is a cold, emotionless, soulless shell. Asriel couldn't even compare himself to Flowey, even of they were basically the same person. He just couldn't bring himself to admit such a thing. He even gave Frisk a very simple yet stern request: Acknowledge Flowey as a different person entirely. Flowey was not Asriel, Asriel was not Flowey. Treat one different than they other. Don't look at the flower and see Asriel...it only makes it worse.

And he also outright _forbade_ Frisk from even breathing the most silent of whispers to his parents about him being alive. No amount of persuading would sway him on that matter. There was no reason his parents should shed more tears over their deceased offspring more than they already have. Asgore declared war on humanity. Toriel left Asgore behind. The Underground fell into a state of disarray and despair, and gain an intense misanthropic view towards humanity and wished for their absolute destruction.

All over him.

All of this happened because he _died_. His death was the cause of all of this intense hatred, and there was no way anyone could fix it for good. Frisk can't RESET that far back. That was going to stay a permanent mark in history no matter what they did. Asriel did say he didn't regret his decision, but never could he have known at the time that such a decision had utterly crushed the hope of his people. They loved him dearly enough, SO much, that they were willing to destroy the human race...and disregard the fact that they were also destroying themselves.

...Hmph. Some Prince he turned out to be. He was too soft to just say _no_ to that accursed plan. He was such a nice boy, didn't want to fight, didn't want any trouble for anyone. Though all of this suffering was a direct result of his choices in the past.

Chara. His beloved sibling.

How different could things have progressed if he had simply said no? If he had simply stopped Chara from going along with it at all? Just telling his sibling that the plan was not worth the suffering that would erupt afterwards, and that they should just discard the idea. No. Asriel didn't want his sibling to think lowly of him because he was scared, so he kept quiet about it to his parents. He just sat there and watched as his sibling slowly and painfully died from poisoning themselves with Asgore's buttercups. Ingesting them did horrible things to one's body. Asgore barely survived the experience. Chara did not. And that was the plan. Asriel obviously didn't like that plan. But again, he stayed silent.

Then he proceeded forward, having absorbed Chara's soul, aiming to return his sibling's body to his village. Unfortunately, the villagers got the wrong idea, and Asriel forced himself to turn away and take the brutal punishment that followed. Despite his death swiftly approaching, Asriel could only smile as he dropped his sibling's corpse on the ground, and felt his own dust spread across the buttercups.

Asriel was seriously considering the possibility of buttercups simply being a curse to the Dreemurr Clan. Because everything terrible that's happened to them has had something to do with buttercups. It NEVER fails. Chara committed suicide with buttercups for the sake of their plan. Toriel had to check and see of another child doomed to die has fallen on buttercups. Asgore has been poisoned by buttercups and almost didn't make it. And guess what Asriel was revived as? Flowey, a talking buttercup with control over time, and no true positive emotions. Asriel didn't want to hate the flowers, but his family's terrible luck with them has made it _really_ difficult.

Asriel didn't want to denounce his parents...but they were both fools to a degree. There's a reason why royalty should NEVER declare something, _especially_ something as extreme as war, just on a burst of raw emotion. Because now that all of that anger was gone, Asgore didn't want to fight anymore, and was simply stalling. Either waiting for the Barrier to break of waiting to die, either end would have been suitable.

Toriel...how he wished he didn't have to denounce his mother. But she has been too harsh. These were the times that a family should stick _together,_ not stay apart. She denounces Asgore for being cowardly? She had a much more effective plan for breaking the Barrier and freeing the monsters, so why didn't _she_ do it? She didn't want to dirty her paws either. No offense to his mother, but she REALLY isn't one to talk about cowardice, as she basically left her entire kingdom to die due to her own selfishness.

...Asriel laughed bitterly. It would seem that cowardice runs in the family. Everything in the monster kingdom has continuously gotten worse because they couldn't make a sound decision. Being a Dreemurr...might possibly suck. Many others could share the blame of the Underground staying the way it is without major improvement.

Sans and Alphys. Their secrets were the darkest in the Underground. No one else knows what they know, but himself.

Papyrus and Undyne. While the latter isn't exactly innocent, it's agreed that the darkest aspects of the Underground was lost on them.

As Flowey, he knew every single denizen in the Underground inside and out, because they were nothing more than playthings. As Asriel? He was just sad that he would never get the chance to know them as actual people, opposed to mere obstacles or pieces. How he wished he could do so...

Asriel sighs as he realized he's been thinking these thoughts to himself with no one there to listen. Already, he desperately misses Frisk. He wanted to be near the kind child again, even when he knew he couldn't allow that to happen. This was his tomb. This was his death bed long ago, where his dust scattered across. Soon, he'll turn back to Flowey. Soon, he'll be returning to his personal hell.

And he completely deserves it.

"Frisk...I..." He started out, but couldn't find it in him to finish, and simply cried into his knees.

He didn't want to let go. He wanted to call for help...

But Nobody Ca-

 _"Asriel..."_

"H-Huh?!"

Asriel turned swiftly, his eyes filled with surprise as a yellow star manifested a couple feet in front of him. A SAVE point? But Frisk wasn't...?

A few moments of tense waiting passes, before his eyes widened as he could see someone beginning to manifest from the star, someone he knows very well. At least, he thought he knew this person very well. His eyes continue to widen as he begins seeing the person in better detail. The green sweater with a yellow stripe, chocolate brown hair, crimson eyes, rosy pink cheeks, brown pants, and the Locket hanging around the neck.

 _"...Chara...?"_ Asriel whispered in disbelief, seeing his sibling complete the manifestation from the SAVE point. "W...Wh...how...?"

"...You haven't turned back into Flowey yet...that's good. It means I'm not too late." The child said softly, slowly moving towards Asriel. Asriel noticed just how crestfallen Chara looked. They looked...broken. Mentally spent. It was as if the simple concept of being alive was far too difficult for them to grasp. Their spirit seemed to be on the verge of collaspe, and their soul, a soul of Determination...it was still pulsing powerfully, but not nearly to the extent that Asriel somewhat remembered, but he wasn't focussed on that. He was more focused on the fact that Chara was here at all. Last time he checked, Chara was very much dead. So how...and why...? And what did they mean that they werent too late? Before he could ask about this, Chara held their hand out and shook their head. "Don't ask questions, Asriel. Just...just take this." Chara slowly took their Locket and slowly opens it.

Asriel's eyes widened as a rainbow-clad soul sprouted from out of the Locket. Chara gently holds it in their hands and slowly begins pushing it towards Asriel. "Chara...wha...what's happening...? How are you here? What kind of soul is that? _Where_ did you get that soul?" He shook his head rapidly. "No. Golly gosh darn it, my main concern is HOW you're even here! You're supposed to be-"

"Dead. Yeah. I've heard that one many times, Asriel. I don't need it from you too." Chara deadpanned. Though their face returned to one of emotional exhaustion. "Look...Azzy. I went through a lot of trouble to get this custom soul put together for you. Don't ask me how I got it, alright? I just want you to take it." Chara sounded incredibly desparate, by the look on their face. They really wanted Asriel to take this mysterious custom soul. which seemed to have the colors of all the other souls, Determination included. Asriel can't maintain his form without a soul...but how would Chara know this? As Asriel continued to examine the calm yet silent desparation on Chara's face, he found himself slowly willing to comply.

Asriel slowly takes the soul from Chara, and holds it gently in his paws. A few moments after that, the soul moves forward and phases into Asriel's chest and he feels himself being greatly empowered by it, as well as his form slowly becoming more stable. When he feels the soul begin to settle, he gazed at Chara with curious/confused eyes, and an expression to match both. Chara began to smile as they nodded at the new soul pulsing in Asriel's chest. "Chara...what's the matter...?"

"...Ah...yes. That's good. That's very good. You'll be able to stay as yourself. Maybe now I can...finally take a breather..." Chara slowly began falling over, and Asriel quickly caught them in his arms, surprised by the sudden change in demeaner from mental and emotional exhaustion to just physical exhaustion. "Heh...sorry about that, Azzy...I'm just...a bit winded..."

"W...Winded? Winded from what? Why are you so tired?" Asriel asked gently.

"Nevermind that right now...it's not important." Chara shook their head, as they gently reached out and touched Asriel's face. "Asriel...I...I'm so glad to see you. And...I'm so sorry. Sorry for everything...and...and..."

"Shh. Don't force yourself to talk if you don't have the energy for it." Asriel said quietly, slowly helping Chara up. "Maybe...we should go and get you some monster food. It'll be able to heal you in no time! Just have to..." Asriel's eyes widened as he slowly turned around at the sound of footsteps. "Oh no...Frisk...you _didn't_..."

"What? What did Frisk do?" Chara asked in confusion. Their eyes also widened as they see Frisk in the hallway...along with the under main monsters. Asgore, Toriel, Undyne, Alphys, Sans, and Papyrus. Asgore and Toriel were both gazing at the two of them with shock and awe, as well as Frisk himself. Chara sighed as they quietly facepalmed. Everything just got significantly more difficult, especially with Sans being there. They could already feel the skeleton's critical gaze on his person.

Yep. This was gonna be a fun time.

 _Goddammit Frisk._

 **(Later)**

"I just cannot believe it...how is this even possible?"

It's been a few hours since they found Asriel and Chara in the Ruins. Make no mistake, Toriel couldn't care less about how and why Asriel and Chara were before her, alive and well. Right now, overwhelming emotions overtook her curiosity comletely, having both children placed in her lab and repeatedly kissing the tops of their heads. Asriel and Chara were both somewhat embarassed about this, though they wished it would last as long as necessary. Both of them were far too afraid to speak about their experiences for different reasons, especially in front of Sans. His response couldn't be predicted.

Asgore has occasionally-and cautiously-reached out to pet Asriel and Chara's head. Toriel was still on the fence about getting along with Asgore, but she at least had the maturity to allow him to pet his sons. It would be rather unfair, whether they expected it or not, for her to just deny him the right to love his children. Her hasn't seem them in a long time, either. He didn't know how this was possible. But he currently didn't care. Asriel and Chara were back, and that's all that mattered to them. Though he suspected that Sans and Alphys were the ones who really wanted answers, as they would be the only ones who could most likely understand them. Then they would have to explain them to Undyne and Papyrus.

Yep. This was going to be _soooooo_ much fun.

"Um...it's going to be seriously difficult to explain everything to you, Mom. I...uh..." This was a pretty good reason why Asriel didn't want to deal with this...how would he go about it? He thought for sure that he would be turning back into Flowey by the time this was over. But now that obviously wouldn't be happening...he was stuck in a supremely awkward situation. He wasn't supposed to come back, and Chara was not supposed to be here either. Everything was so confusing now. What was he supposed to do?

"Mom. Remember when I first fell into the Underground, and you blew Flowey away with a fireball?" Frisk began. Asriel and Chara gazed at them with shocked faces. They shook their heads rapidly and tired to quietly shush him. They didn't get the hint. "That was really Asriel in soulless form."

Toriel blinked. Then she let out an uneasy laugh. "T...That's quite funny, child. I thought you said that the wretched flower I blasted back then was my son. That's preposterous." Toriel looked towards Asriel, still uneasily laughing. Asriel slowly turned away and scratched his cheek awkwardly. The realization slowly dawns upon her, and her face pales in shock.

 _Oh my god what have I done?!_

Alphys was processing the information the same way. Realizing that the flower she injected Determination into was the very flower that was covered with Asriel's dust back then. Her face was also incredibly pale.

 _Oh my god what have I done?!_

"How...how did that happen? How were you...?" Toriel muttered as she regained her senses.

Asriel raised his paws. "W-Well I should tell you! It definitely isn't Alphys's fault!" He really wanted to bite his own tongue as he saw Alphys shrink and cower under Toriel's burning hot gaze. He was really, _REALLY_ bad at delivery, sometimes. _We really should have planned planned this out more...but we had no time to plan this out because I didn't expect to be regaining my form! Golly gosh darn it, this is a really bad time..._

"I...really don't know what to think about this?" Undyne blinked owlishly.

"I AM CURRENTLY...VERY CONFUSED. FIRST THERE WAS THE ASGORE CLONE...THEN THERE'S THE SMALL ASGORE CLONE...HOW MANY CLONES DOES ASGORE HAVE?" Papyrus asked curiously.

"...Um...Papyrus. These aren't my clones..." Asgore said quietly as he raised a paw. Toriel glared at him, and he immediately lowered said paw and weeped softly.

Asriel sighed as looked towards Toriel. "Go easy on him, Mom. This family is broken up enough as it is." This made both parents flinch, and they both turned their gazes towards the floor. Asriel grimanced at how harsh that sounded, and just stared at his lap. There was no taking that back now. "I'm sorry...it's just...everything's been happening so quickly. I don't think my mind's caught up to everything that's happened. It's all been so fast, and so unexpected...I'm still trying to process it all..."

"I know it's a lot to take in, Asriel. But it's going to be okay now. You're back. I'm back. Everyone is safe. That's all that should matter." Chara insisted, waving their hand side to side. "We'll slowly process this entire thing together, once we get to the Surface."

"To the Surface...right...the Barrier's been broken..." Asriel said slowly, turning to Chara with concern. "Chara...you've been very uneasy ever since you came around...are you sure everything is alright?" He briefly reached a paw over and held Chara's hand. "You know you can tell me what's wrong, right? You can tell me anything."

Chara smiled softly at Asriel's calm and warm reassuance, despite how confused he seemed right now. They gently squeezed Asriel's paw and laid their head on his shoulder. "Really, it's nothing too serious, brother. Let's just relax for a bit before we head to the Surface. I still need to recover my energy...which means I need plenty of chocolate...gimme chocolate, Azzy..."

"I don't have any chocolate on me! Why are you even asking me?!"

"But I _reeeaaallly_ want it!"

" _Chara!_ "

Frisk watched with a bit of a laugh as they watched the two siblings bicker over chocolate. The others didn't seem to mind to much, just enjoying the peace somewhat, especially after a major victory they didn't know they achieved.

...Chara didn't forget that Sans was a skeptical skeleton.

"so...chara dreemurr, is it?" Sans suddenly spoke up, clasping his hands and staring at Chara curiously. "ya gave a custom soul to the prince here so he can keep his body stabilized...i get that part. what i _don't_ get, is how did you get your hands on that soul? there was never such thing as a rainbow soul before you came up and just offered it to the prince on a silver platter." His eye sockets narrowed, though Chara didn't flinch under his gaze.

"SANS. WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?" Papyrus asked, placing a hand on his shoulder. Sans didn't move, though.

"where'd ya get the soul, kid? and while where on the subject of souls... _how are you alive?_ "

Sans' gaze was critical and suspicious, yet Chara was still unflinching. They turned towards the ground, their hair overshadowing their eyes as they gently clutched their Locket. "...I did what I had to do." Asriel didn't even realize that he reacted by grabbing hold of his own Locket. "...and what I had to do...wasn't very nice..."

"you're dodging the question, kiddo. you said you did what you had to do, and what ya did wasn't very nice. are ya sure you don't wanna clarify that in deeper detail?" Sans pressed. Chara didn't shrink away, they just stared back at the skeleton with a deadpan expression.

...Chara eventually sighed and rose their head up, still holding Asriel's paw. "...I'm...not from here."

"hm?"

"I'm not from this timeline. I'm from a different one entirely." Chara placed a hand over their soul, and sighed deeply. "And this soul...this body...neither of them are mine."

"What?!" Asriel and Frisk said in surprise as everyone else still gazed in absolute confusion. Everyone except Sans, who understood almost immediately.

"different timeline, eh? why would you need to jump from one timeline to the next, while hijacking someone else's body to add onto it? unless... ** _somethin' really bad happened_**." Snas narrowed his eye sockets as his left eye began glowing. Chara still didn't flinch. They instead turned towards Sans and shook their head.

"I guess you could say that. I should say it like this...Frisk...isn't the nice person you know them as in this timeline." Chara lowered their head. "They was...different. _Bad_ different. You wouldn't be able to recognize the Frisk that I knew if you compared them to this one..." Chara clutched their chest, where their own soul rested. "I had to stop them...I did what I had to do. I just hate myself for being so powerless as to have been unable to do anything until it was too late!"

"Wait a minute. Bad different? Powerless? What do you mean?" Asriel asked, his eyes greatly reflecting his worry. "Chara...what happened? What did you do?"

Before Chara could answer a loud rumble thundered through the Ruins. Everyone did their best to stay balanced, Toriel clutching onto Asriel and Chara while Asgore caught Frisk, saving them from falling over. Undyne was the first to react, looking around rapidly while clutching onto Alphys. "The heck was that?! What was that rumbling?!"

"THAT DID NOT SOUND GOOD! WE SHOULD GO SEE WHAT IT IS!" Papyrus suggested, getting up quickly.

"Indeed! Follow me!" Asgore commanded as he was the first to rush out of the door, followed by Toriel, Asriel, Frisk, and soon everyone else. They had no idea what that thundering noise was, it didn't _sound_ like an explosion. Though it might have been one, they didn't know for sure. The only way they would know for sure was if they checked it out for themselves. First, they would see if any other monsters knew what that thuderous sound was. All the monsters have exited the Ruins to prepare for their move to the Surface, so they were all currently outside. They exited the Ruins and headed out to Snowdin...

...A few yards afterwards, they were greeted with piles of dust.

"...What..." Asriel choked out in disbelief, blinking multiple times to make sure what he was seeing was real.

"The **_HELL_?!** " Undyne shouted, more angry than shocked as she gritted her teeth in rage.

"O-Oh my God..." Alphys stuttered, her claws reaching up to her muzzle.

Sans was completely silent, his eye sockets darkened. Asgore and Toriel stared in disbelief, the latter's paws covering her muzzle as well. Papyrus shivered, as he nervously reaches out and patted Sans' shoulder. "SANS...WHERE DID EVERYONE GO?" Sans chose not to answer, he was honestly too hesitant to do so at the moment. It didn't make any sense. Frisk-and Chara, he supposed-were the only humans down here. The monsters wouldn't just start killing each other, either.

This wasn't right. None of this was right. This was supposed to be over. Everything was supposed to be alright now that the Barrier was broken. The monsters were supposed to reach the Surface, and the happy end would finally be reached.

So...why...?

 **(Hours later...)**

The crew took a deathly silent trek through the Underground, and were greeting with the same unsettling sight: Monster dust was everywhere, with no sign of a perpretator. The more dust they saw, the angrier Undyne and Sans beame, and the more despaired the Dreemurrs became. Especially Chara. They saw all the dust around them, and they looked more ready to faint than either Asriel or Alphys. Frisk had to be the one to help them keep standing. They weren't really doing so well themselves, as they continued forcing themselves to look away from most areas they came across. Snowdin and it's Royal Guard have been completely wiped out, which did not help Undyne's growing fury.

Further onward in Hotlands, they had tried to check Alphys's cameras to see what might have happened, but they, along with the inside of her Lab, have been completely destroyed. Now, had she actually been in there while this mysterious event was going on, Undyne would have been **gravely** upset, and that's putting it lightly. Alphys was growing more nervous as they had also pushed pass the Core, which was also covered with dust. She hasn't seen Mettaton anywhere, and that's proving to be one of her biggest concerns so far, her friend couldn't be dead too, right? She couldn't help but feel an intense feeling of dread coursing through her. This same dread coursed through everyone else, as they still have no clue what's happening.

Asriel looked all around, as he clutched his chest tightly, which housed his new soul. Now that he could genuinely feel emotions again, he was feeling a plethora of them, and none of them were particularly good. He could have sworn this was all over. And yet for some reason, this begins happening with no foreshadowing whatsoever. His worry continues to grow, and his hold on Chara continues to tighten. The unease continues to grow thoroughout the entire group, especially the Dreemurrs. Asgore has been feeling an intense wave of guilt because it didn't matter how or why this happened, he should have been able to prevent it. Toriel couldn't get the sickening feeling from her soul the more she passes by dust, her feelings being more close to Asgore's. Undyne was aiming to kill the one responsible for this, as well as Sans and Chara. Papyrus didn't know how to take this, but he was definitely shaken.

After a set amount of time passing through the eerie, unsettling silence of New Home, they finally approached Judgement Hall. What made this so important was that they could still hear someone there...and they were fighting.

"I can hear someone there...it's Mettaton!" Alphys exclaimed as she rushed forward ahead of everyone else, who followed closely behind, dread still filling their souls. _Please be okay, Mettaton!_

 **(Judgement Hall)**

"Ngh...you're serious about this, aren't you...?" Mettaon huffed tiredly. His EX form was smoking, and he was on the verge of breaking down. Though he refused to stay down, if only to stare on in defiance at his would-be killer. "I have no idea who or what you are...but you're clearly not regretting any of your actions today...are you at least going to tell me _why_ you're doing this...?" There was no response from his assailant. He's been like this for a while, having chased down this ruthless killer on his own, while he double-checked to see if Alphys was in the area. Knowing that she was safe, he was able to fight without worrying. Tch, if this could really be called a fight. He took a lot of hits, though he was completely unable to land any hits of his own. He was completely outmatched in every way, this person was just toying with him the entire time.

Mettaton didn't _completely_ regret his decision to do this, though. A star has to go out glamorously after all.

When he didn't get a response, he huffed while closing his eyes. "Hmmm...no answer. For some reason, that doesn't surprise me. You're going to kill me, after all." He sighed softly as he opened his eyes halfway. _Sorry Blooky...Alphys...I did what I could...even though it amounted to nothing. Still, a star like me at least had to try, right?_ He reclosed his eyes as he felt a glow beginning to quickly brighten in front of him. _Take care of yourself...darling..._

Alphys was the first to reach the Judgement Hall, initially expressing relief, not seeing the person in front of her friend. She waved quickly. "Metta-!"

The robot was immediately obliterated by a trio of white blasts from above. Alphys froze in place as pieces of Mettaton flew in different directions, hitting pillars and walls, scrambling across the ground. Mettaton's head slowly rolled up to Alphys as the light in his eyes completely died out. His torso had been destroyed, and his soul along with it. Her relief swiftly turned into horror as she lowered her arm in disbelief.

"...ton...?"

Undyne was the next one to enter the Judgement Hall, followed by the others. Her eye widened as she sees Mettaton's scattered parts. She soon stood in front of Alphys as a spear manifested in her hands. "Who the hell just killed Mettaton?!" While she may not like the robot personally, he was important to Alphys. That was reason enough for her to get infuriated with this turn of events. Although, after she got a good look at the attacker, her eye widened. "Wha...?"

Papyrus gaped in shock, Toriel's paws covered her muzzle, Asgore's eyes just widened significantly, Frisk's mouth gaped slightly, Chara's eyes narrowed, and Asriel's eyes dulled a bit, trying to make sense of the situation. While Sans...his eye sockets darkened with more disbelief than everyone else.

 **"Let's see...Asriel and Chara are alive...the former has a soul now...and the latter is not even from this timeline...but from a Soulless Pacifist timeline."**

 _Soulless Pacifist...?!_ Asriel questioned quietly.

 **"Chara, Chara, Chara...you can't just go changin' the rules because you don't like how they shape things! We have rules for pretty good reaons, y'know!"**

This person looked a lot like Sans. Except his skull and jacket was black with a blue hoodie, his legs being red while wearing black slippers. His fingers were ellow, and they were each wrapped up in blue strings that began whipping around a bit on his command. The single word 'ERROR' constantly glitches all over his body, and so were the dragon skulls above him known as Gaster Blasters, which had just obliterated Mettaton, blowing him to pieces. Sans continued to stare in disbelief, nearly refusing to believe that this person looked so much like him. He also had Sans' grin, was a very clear sign of a lack of sanity.

 **"Chara...ya gotta realize...what you're doin' right now...it's cheatin'. Even if it was for your little brother's sake, a cheater is still a cheater."** The Sans lookalike chuckled darkly as he spreads his hands, more blue threads shooting out as he began levitating in the air. **"Thanks to your interference, this timeline and all the others connected to it, must be erased. Hope you're proud of what you're actions just wrought, kiddo!"** All of the threads began shooting towards Chara, the child gasping in shock as they closed their eyes.

 _ **SLASH**!_

Chara opened their eyes, which widened in surprise as they saw Asriel right in front of them, holding a Chaos Blade in his paws. He had just sliced the strings apart before they could touch Chara, and the cut strands returned to the Sans lookalike, who stepped back a few feet in irritation.

 **"Urgh! Asriel Dreemurr!? When the hell did _you_ of all monsters grow a spine?!" **

Asriel didn't respond at first, as his eyes became overshadowed as the Chaos Blade dissipated in his paws. He stood up straight, his ears hanging by his sides. "...I don't know what's going on...but right now, it doesn't matter. What I DO know, is that I just got Chara back..." Asriel slowly raised his head, black markings covering his cheeks and his sclera turning black, and his horns grew out slightly. Chara gussed he was tapping into the power of his new soul. Asriel clenched his fists tightly and glared at the black skeleton in front of him. He's obviously enraged by the fact that this person was the one who killed a majority of the monsters in the Underground when they were finally going to be free, but he was more enraged by the fact that this person just tried to attack his sibling.

"If you want Chara... **you'll have to go through _me._** "

* * *

 **There goes part one! Things already kinda suck!**

 **...A majority of the monsters are dead...**

 **... _Ooooohhh noooooo_...**

 **And the fact that this Chara is from a Soulless Pacifist timeline, yet they've been helping the others out a bit...wonder what happened...**

 **Until the next chapter!**


	2. But We Refused: Part Two

**...Okay. So, uh...things didn't really go well in the last chapter. Things we're all fine and dandy. And the next moment...they weren't.**

 **Wow.**

 **Maybe things will be better here...? I dunno...**

 **Oh! A thing to mention. Frisk and Chara are 'they/them' this time around. I edited the first chapter a bit to reflect this. Any mistakes I make in this regard, I'll fix as soon as possible. Sound good?**

 **Anyway, we have ourselves a serious impasse. And it ends not the way anyone expected!**

 **Chapter Start!**

* * *

 **"Asriel Dreemurr..."**

"Who are you? And why are you targeting Chara? They didn't do anything to you!" Asriel shouted.

The glitched skeleton shook his head, shrugging. **"Man, you have NO idea how many people have asked me that question. 'Who am I?' 'Why am I doing this?' 'What did I ever do to you?' Seriously, that's incredibly irritating, and it shows like, _zero_ respect for my private life." **He shook his head and shrugged. **"But since you're all about to die anyway, I guess I can give you that kind of tidbit."** He raised his hands, and blue strings began flowing from his fingers. **"For the last moments of your lives, you can refer to me as... _Error Sans_." **

"...error...sans...?" Sans repeated quietly, his eye sockets darkened in shock.

 **"And you quite a naive _kid,_ Asriel Dreemurr. You really want to know why I'm targeting Chara Dreemurr? I literally _just_ said it. Your sibling here broke a couple rules that were absolutely NOT meant to be broken." **

"What rules would regulate having them and the rest of the Underground killed?! What kind of twisted rules do you follow?!" Asriel shouted defiantly.

 **"It really is quite simple...and simultaneously, it isn't.** **"** Error replied, as he began pacing the hall. **"Ya see...we have a set of rules to follow. Without rules, there'd be total chaos. That's pretty basic, am I right?"** He asked rhetorically, not really threatened by Asriel's piercing glare. **"That rule applies to a lot of things. Be it a simple rule of society...or a rule of space-time. Your buddy Chara managed to muck up that rule _purposefully,_ then picked up that chaos ball and ran with it as if they had nothing to lose. I'm sure they explained this to you already, buuuuut I'm gonna reiterate it for ya in case they weren't finished. I was quite...busy." **

Alphys briefly looks towards Mettaton EX's head, and held back a choked sob of grief. Undyne dissipated her spear and gently held her close to her, before shipping her head back towards Error. Frisk looked towards Error for themselves, taking a hesitant step forward. "Why...what did Chara do that would warrant all of this death and destruction...? What's the point of it...?"

Error grinned as he closed his glitched eye sockets and shook his head. **"Funny you should be the one to ask that, Frisk. Ya see, Chara did what they did for a plethora of reasons. You and Asriel...you were both on the very top of that list. They wanted to SAVE Asriel. But in order for them to do that...they had to stop Frisk."** Taking a moment to observe the confusion on Frisk's face, he shook his head again and held his hands up. **"I'm gonna be straight with ya, kiddo. You can be MANY things if you truly wanted to...but a perfect little angel is _never_ gonna be one of them. It just can't happen, and it never will happen. The timeline this Chara comes from, it really drives this point home. Perhaps they would like to explain just how this came to be. Howzaboutit, Chara? Go on. _Tell em' what ya did~_ "**

Chara hesitated with going through with an explanation, now that they knew that their actions have been monitored, and that this Error Sans has been waiting for an accurate time to strike. They planned on at least waiting a little bit, having the others be eased into the information they planned on giving, before they would eventually tell them the whole story. Unfortunately, it seemed that their plans have been sabatoged with extreme prejudice. Now they needed to tell them all the truth. The _full_ truth. They were afraid of how severe Error Sans' retaliation might be, and even more afraid of how the others might see them.

"Chara...my child...what does he speak of...?" Toriel suddenly asked, gaining the courage to speak once the shock of the sudden turn of events wore off.

Chara sighed deeply as they stood up straight and nodded. "As I said...I had to do what I needed to do. And what I did...it wasn't the most moral of decisions. But I felt that it needed to be done..."

 **(Accessing Memory: Chara-Genocide Timeline)**

 _"Now I see who I was protecting by keeping you here...not you...but THEM..."_

 _"I STILL BELIEVE IN YOU! YOU CAN DO A LITTLE BETTER, EVEN IF YOU DON'T THINK SO! I... I PROMISE!"_

 _"This world...WILL live on...!"_

 _"I should have killed you when I had the chance."_

 _"...papyrus...do you want anything...?"_

 _"Why not settle this over a nice cup of tea...?"_

 _"P-Please don't kill me..."_

No more.

Chara has lost all of their patience for this madness. They've asked, begged, pleaded, _cried_ for this hell to end...but it was of no use. A majority of the monsters have been killed. Without a second thought, without hesitation, and without mercy. They watched as one by one, they all went down. It was complete and utter torment for them to watch this and not be able to do anything about it. Words could either do so much, or nothing at all. In this case...they could not help. It was pointless to reason with this wretching being, they knew this now. There was only one alternative left.

 _"I wish to destroy this pointless world, and move onto the next. However...I cannot do that on my own. Not even with the power that we have. I will need more, if we are to do this correctly. How do we achieve such a feat, you ask? Well, that is fairly simple. You have what I need. Give it to me. Give it to me, so that we may achieve the power to traverse from one world to the next, where our power will continue to grow, and we will be able to conquer...everything."_

Chara could tell that Frisk was interested in the offer, seeing them lightly place a hand over their chest in wonder. Though before they proceeded, they gazed at Chara with a questioning gaze.

 _"Do not be ridiculous. What would I have to gain from betraying you now? There is nothing left here for either of us, so neither of us will gain any real value from staying here. You can deny the offer if you wish. It will make no difference to either of us. We will both still be in this world, and nothing will change. Change is a good thing for some people. Change leads to interesting things. You do not wish to be eternally bored...do you?"_

The power of persuasion was quite interesting, Chara couldn't help but realize. Frisk was really beginning to wonder if this was such a good idea. Perhaps it was. Perhaps it wasn't. But Frisk will never know, until they take that first step, make their first move.

 _"Exactly. Allow me to help you. We shall continue our endeavors as...partners. No one will be able to stop us, no matter how hard they try. All you have to do...is sell me your soul. It does not seem to be high of a cost to you, as you continue to act as if you do not have one...isn't that right...?"_

Chara continues to speak via power of persuasion, and hopes that Frisk will accept. Frisk seemed to be thinking even deeper on the decision, while Chara waited patiently. After a few minutes of tense, unsure waiting, Frisk looked up towards Chara and nodded their head. They were hesitant at first, but the walked up to Chara, with their soul in their hand. Chara nodded in return, gently holding their hand out and taking the soul, watching it levitate over their hand. They slowly smiled.

 _"Then it is done. Pleasure doing business with you..."_

Frisk gasped as they suddenly something sharp pierce into their chest. Chara held the Real Knife in their right hand, and Frisk's soul with their left. They had just stabbed into Frisk without flinching. Frisk slowly pulled the knife out of them, took a couple steps back, and fell on their knees, looking at Chara with disbelief/shock.

 _"You idiot...why would I **willingly** work with someone like you? Have you no idea on what you've done? Do you have no care for the ramifications of your actions? Thanks to you, monsterkind is sure to fall into despair, now that their most important figures are gone. But no...that's not why I'm doing this, though it IS a big part of it. No. Why I'm so angry is quite smple. My kind mother, Toriel. My pacifistic father, Asgore. And my...my dear brother...Asriel. They are all dead because of you. It is even worse for Asriel. He had no soul anymore, so he cannot even go to an afterlife! He just stops existing completely! Do you hear me? ASRIEL. IS. **GONE!** " _Chara slowly walked up to Frisk and kneeled next to them, and mercilessly pushed the Real Knife deep into the cut it made earlier, and took no care in the writhing of agony they were going through. _"You are **pathetic**. This timeline is of no use to me anymore, and neither are you. You had plenty of chances to go back and fix things, but you have DEBLIBERATELY ignored them. Well, do not believe that you will get out of this unscathed. You spit upon mercy...now you shall have **NONE.** "_

Chara pulled the knife out of Frisk and rose the hand holding Frisk's soul. The other six souls circled around and began drawing their energy along with it's own. The souls of Bravery, Perseverence, Patience, Kindness, Integrity, Justice, and Determination all came together, and something began to form in the center of the circle.

 _"I do not require the souls themselves. Only their power, then they are free to pass onto the next life. They deserve it more than you do."_ Chara explained, as the energies gathered by the souls slowly manifested into a new colorful soul. The soul of Determination returns to Chara, and the other souls vanished, returning to the after life, while they holds the new flashing rainbow soul in their other hand. _"Maybe I can use this in another timeline...one that doesn't have a Frisk as vile as you. I will admit that I have made grave mistakes...but your actions have made them irreversible. So now, I will fix them in yet another timeline. I will save Asriel, and I will meet a Frisk that's much better than you could ever be. I have your body, and your soul. They belong to me, now. As for you...there is only one destination left...oblivion."_

Frisk laid on the ground helplessly as Chara raised the knife over their head, as it glows crimson with slight rings covering it, and yet their expression did not change. They only spoke these words:

 ** _"Frisk. It was terrible to have known you. Farewell."_**

There was a blinding red slash, and Frisk knew no more.

 **(Present)**

Everyone stood in disbelief as Chara recounted their story to them. Frisk and Asriel were the most shocked out of everyone, neither of them having ever expected such a thing from Frisk, even if they were events from another timeline. Chara was powerless to interfere until it was unfortunately too late for them to save anyone. Though they could partially understand their desire to travel to a different timeline afterwards. That Frisk would eventually wrestle control back from Chara, and that was something they could not allow to happen. That timeline has suffered enough, so they decided to leave it alone. It may have been cowardly, but this is a choice that they made.

That choice involved saving Asriel in another timeline, and making sure that Frisk was safe for that same timeline. This was confirmed to be true, but now...

"Oh my goodness..." Toriel whispered quietly. Asgore couldn't believe what he was hearing, either. Asriel was the one feeling most shocked out of them all, mostly because of his ultimate fate in a timeline as dark as that one. He stared at the ground in utter shock as he began shaking slightly.

 _There...was actually a Frisk like that...?_

"Alphys...are you following any of this...?" Undyne asked after a few more moments of silence. The scientist shook her head quietly, not quite getting it herself. Papyrus was looking towards his brother for an explanation, but Sans was keeping completely quiet about the whole thing so far. Chara had to leave an entire timeline that's been decimated by a genocidal Frisk...and they got assistance from the other souls to help form a brand new soul that will help sustain Asriel's form. He...honestly didn't know what to think of Chara at the moment, and even less of how he should view Frisk.

Error Sans continued to grin. **"And there ya have it! This Chara's basically walkin' in Frisk's skin, after havin' sold their soul to them. They completely erased their consciousness so that comin' back was an impossibility. They basically hijacked their body and made it unable to be returned, and left a Genocide Timeline incomplete. As you can probably guess...this string of actions have left _everything_ out of order! Everything is seriously messed up, and nothing of any sort is how it should be! Well...I suppose it won't matter in a few moments. Gotta clean this timeline up, know what I'm sayin'?" **

Asriel clenched his fists. "You...you seriously think that me and Chara being alive is nothing but mistakes?! How could you think something like that?!"

 **"You two weren't meant to be happy in the end. It's just the way it is. You can't just rewrite your fate just because ya don't like it. It simply isn't within the code for you and Chara to be happy...just wasn't meant to be, kiddo."** Error explained as more threads began to flow, and they looked poised to attack. **"Now that we got introductions outta the way, I'll be killin' you all now. It ain't nothin' personal...it's just business."**

"...Business...?" Undyne snarled through her fangs. "You call something as terrible as you're describing...a _**business?**_ "

 **"Fraid so, Undyne. 'Fraid so."** Error grinned. **"And as an added bonus, my workload lessened a bit, Frisk isn't gonna be willin' to RESET. Not if it means reverting back to the time that Asriel was Flowey. And I'm not gonna allow Chara to interfere with the timeline next time. So ya see? You all have no choice but to accept your end without resistance, then things can go back to the way they were-"** Error suddenly gasped as he barely dodged out of the way of a speeding fireball, watching it collide against the faraway wall. he turned back with an irritated grimace. **"The hell?! I said _without_ resistance! That was _clearly_ resisting!" **

"What you are asking of us is impossible to willingly cooperate with..." Asgore said quietly, though there was no question that he was seething. "You're saying...that you have killed most of my people...because you felt that things aren't the way they should be?! I have my deceased children back, and now you seek to destroy them because that is not what history dictates?!"

"And who the hell says that we have to abide by what _you_ think the way things should be?!" Undyne snarled, eventually pushing Alphys behind her and glared at Error. "Last time we checked, we were doing JUST fine before you decided to come in and wreck everything! Who the hell made _you_ the judge of how things should and shouldn't be?!" A spear materialized in her hands as she pointed it towards Error. "If you think we're just gonna lie down and accept this, you've got another thing coming!"

Alphys lightly twiddled her thumbs, before she shook her head and gathered some of her courage. "T-That's right...w-we can't just accept what you're telling us! W-We were happy the way we are...things were beginning to work out w-well for us...why would you go and try and take that away from us in such a terrible manner...?"

"I shall not permit such an atrocity to go on without resistance...you expect me to simply stand by while you proceed to further our suffering...?!" Toriel growled, her paws being alit with flames. "I've gotten my children back...they have returned to me...and yet you're attempting to take them away from me again... _I WON'T let you!_ "

Papyrus looked between his friends, and towards Error. Tensions were running high, and at an alarmingly uncomfortable rate. "STOP! EVERYONE PLEASE STOP!" Papyrus suddenly ran in front of Error, spreading his arms outwards. Asriel and Undyne looked at him in disbelief, and Sans gazed at Papyrus, his worry growing exceedingly high.

"Papyrus?! What are you doing?!" Undyne demanded angrily, though just as worried as Sans.

"WAIT. THINGS WON'T GET BETTER IF WE CONTINUE AT THIS RATE. HE IS BASICALLY SANS, RIGHT? MAYBE...MAYBE I CAN SPEAK WITH HIM.:."

"Papyrus, stay away from him!" Asriel shouted, on high alert.

"pap...that's not a good idea..." Sans said quietly, a cyan glow beginning to manifest from his left eye socket.

Error was stoic for a moment, watching Papyrus inch closer to him. Then he grinned maliciously...

 **[Music: Errorvania Remastered]**

Sans was proven correct as Error flicked his finger slightly. One of the threads connected to his Error Blasters, and it resulted in it opening his maw and firing a glaring white beam towards him. Chara's eyes widened as they briefly pushed Papyrus out of the way, and felt a searing pain in their right arm. They grunted, realizing they couldn't feel it there anymore. They stood up after a couple moments and turned towards the now stunned Papyrus.

"Papyrus...this person is too dangerous..." Chara told him quietly, more annoyed with their severe injury than anything else.

Error frowned. **"Tch...now why did you have to go and do that? I missed my target, and now you're kinda lacking an arm, kiddo. Ya know, I _was_ trying to make this quick and painless to an extent, but now I have t-" **A wall of glitched bones formed right in front of him, just in time for them to defend against a fireball that would have made explosive contact with his body had he been a second too late. **"Alright, gettin' _real_ tired of being interrupted!" **

Asriel manifested a Chaos Blade in his paws and lashed out at Error, watching him dodge out of the way of the slash. His eyes were lit with unrelenting fiery fury. Error Blasters took aim towards him and fired when he waas within their sights. He held his paw out as a stream of lighting shot out and destroyed two of the blasters. The third one fired another white beam towards the Dreemurr. Asriel's soul suddenly turned blue as he was unexpectedly pulled back, watching the blast tear into the Judgement Hall floor, destroying a large portion of it. Asriel managed to land on his feet and looked towards the one who pulled him back. Sans walked past him, his left eye socket glowing.

"that's enough...you're way outta line, pal."

 **"No, I'm doing the right thing. It's really frustrating how no one ever understands these things."** Error sighed as multiple threads spread from his fngers, and began lashing at Sans. Though he simply grinned and teleported out of the way, making them miss completely. Error grimanced as he made the blue thread follow Sans constantly. The strings, while incredibly thin, were MUCH more threatening that expected. When they shot out with immense force, they devastated a wall that Sans was just in front of, destroying a portion of it.

"kinda hard to understand why you would do what you're doin'. which by the way...none of us are okay with it. in fact, what you're doing really cements ya as a colossal jerk." Sans said as he dodged out of the way of more threads aiming to trap him. Error made a plethora of glitching bones that shot out towards Sans, who continues to avoid and dodge all of the glitching bones. Error just shook his head before aiming his strings again, only to step back a few feet as a blue spear pierced from the ground, very nearly cutting his jacket.

"You think we're just gonna sit around and let this slide?! I don't think so!" Undyne shouted, three spears manifesting above her and threw them all towards Error one after another. Error simply dodges the first one, deflects the second one with a flick of blue threads, and used them again to grab the third one to spin around and tossed it back at her. She was quick tp manifest another one in her hands and knocked it away, watching it stick into a nearby pillar. She gritted her teeth as Error simply wags his finger at her. He then used his other hand to focus his strings towards frisk. He was furiously denied by Asgore swooping in and slicing them apart with a swift swing of his trident. Error stepped back a bit and narrowed his eye sockets in annoyance at the interference. Asgore glared at him, his own eyes filled with fiery determination.

" _ **You are not going to harm this child!**_ " Asgore's defiant roar echoed throughout the Judgement Hall. Toriel gazed at him for a few moments, her eyes narrowed in annoyance, as well as curiosity.

Error grinned darkly as he stuffed his hands in his pockets as he nonchalantly dodged another spear from Undyne. **"Ah sure, _now_ ya don't want any kids to die. You've got quite the pathetic streak when it comes to bein' King, Old Man." **

"That might be, but I will not use that as an excuse to do nothing! No more!" Asgore shouted as a stream of fire flowed from his paw and tracked Error down. He simply grinned and raised another wall of glitched bones to defend against the attack. Though his eye sockets widened as he jumped back a couple meters, watching Asgore charge straight through the bones horns first, and decimate them in a matter of moments.

 **"That was a bit close..."**

"This one will be even closer." Chara said from behind him, swinging their Real Knife at his head. He gasped a bit and ducked under the strike, just barely missing it. Chara slashed again, cutting through a few of Error's threads before jumping backwards to avoid a sudden storm of glitching bones from below. They then looked above, seeing an Error Blaster poised to fire. They narrowed their eyes a bit and prepared to evade, but Asriel slashed the weapon in half with a Chaos Blade, and it glitched out of existence. Chara smiled in gratitude, if only for a few moments before going to attack Error again, who kept himself at bay with the use of his threads.

His eye sockets widened a bit once he felt a slight singe of fire pass by his cheekbone, and could see that it belonged to Toriel. Her eyes were burning with fury as she conjured another ball of fire in her paws. Error narrowed them again as he sent a flurry of glitched bone shards towards her, though she incinerated them all with a single fire blast. Though her eyes widened as he could see three Error Blasters firing right at her. A wall of fire surrounded her, though the blast overwhelmed her and sent her flying into a pillar. She gasped and felt to her knees. He was aiming to fire again, though he pulled his arm back as he swiftly dodges to the side as Chara's Real Knife came down.

"You are quite persistent in going along with this. Don't you have any care about how the inhabitants of this timeline feel?"

 _They're still a capable fighter even with only one arm...that's rather annoying, actually._ Error thought as he again dodges out of the way of the knife, extending his blue threads and watching them attach to their wrist. **"Why would I care how insignificant glitches feel? You're nothing but errors. You were doing so well...but you HAD to ruin it with your determined desire to save Asriel. This was your mistake, kiddo. Now you'll have to suffer the consequences...thought you were above them, didja?"** He threw them against a pillar, watching them crash right into it. They didn't seem too bothered by it, as they stood back up in no time at all. Chara still readied their Real Knife, even though their other arm was basically gone.

"My actions are selfish, I will admit. But I will not allow Asriel to fall into the darkness again. He doesn't deserve it." Chara said while posing their Real Knife in front of them. "You're trying to ruin the life I just barely managed to get back for him. I won't allow anyone to take it away from him again. He deserves to be with his family."

 **"That _sounds_ noble, but you're deliberately ignoring the consequences of your actions, because you believe that they were worth it. But think about this...once this timeline resets, your efforts will be for nothing." **Error grinned, more Error Blasters and bones manifesting and firing down on them. They dodged a majority of them, slicing apart the bones and barely avoiding the bones shooting past them. **"Seems like you've got yourself in quite a predicament. If this timeline doesn't reset, all the monsters I killed will stay dead. But if it _does_ reset, then Asriel will turn back into Flowey, once again being soulless, hopeless, and alone...what will you all do...?" **

Frisk could tell that Chara was struggling to think over this, seeing their grip on the Real Knife slack a bit. Then they themselves found themselves thinking over this difficult fault in saving Asriel. If there was _anyone_ who was in desparate need of saving, it was Asriel. But...are they really willing to sacrifice the monsters of this timeline to do so...? No wonder Chara was so hesitant all of a sudden.

Error would have continued, but he was interrupted by a Gaster Blaster blast from behind. Grunting in annoyance, he turned around swiftly, only to see that Sans was the one with the blaster, his eye glowing brightly. "how about you let _us_ worry about that, pal? instead of intruding on other people's business?"

 **"Idiot, this _IS_ my business!" ** Error shouted as an Error Blaster was positioned towards Sans. Sans countered with his own Gaster Blaster and fired the beam to counter it. The result was a blidning clash of magic, the beams spreading out and occasionally blasting holes in walls and destroying pillars.

Alphys and Papyrus stayed far back, wondering how this could have all happened. The former was still craddling Mettaton's head in her lap, tears leaving her eyes.

 _We were close...we were SO close...so why...? Why did something like this have to happen...?_

"THIS...WAS UNPRECEDENTED." Papyrus noted, keeping close to Alphys as much as he could. "THAT SKELETON THAT LOOKS SO MUCH LIKE MY BROTHER...WHY WOULD HE DO SOMETHING LIKE THIS? WE'VE NEVER MET HIM BEFORE...DID WE PERHAPS DO SOMETHING TO UPSET HIM...? THERE MUST BE A REASON FOR WHY HE'S LIKE THIS..."

"If there _is_ a reason, it certainly isn't a good one..." Alphys muttered quietly.

The light soon dies down, and Sans coughes a bit to see if Error was still there. It turns out that he wasn't, and he frantically looked around to catct sight of him. He swiftly turned around, though he was too slow to react as Error suddenly had him restrained by his threads, and threw him forcibly against the wall. He grunted a bit as he made an effort to stand, and he saw Error grin darkly.

 **"** **Welp, it's been fun, guys. Unfortunately for you... _I gotta get back to work._ " **

**[Music Stop]**

Error spreads his arms out as numerous blue threads spread out across the Judgement Hall. Within a matter of moments, a majority of them have lashed out and latched onto the monsters. Toriel and Asgore gasped as they were lifted up and had their arms binded. Alphys and Undyne were wrapped up next, though the latter was making a very determined attempt to get free of the bindings. Sans and Papyrus were also wrapped up, the latter still trying to process what Error was trying to do, while the former's eye sockets darkened as he realized that access to his magic has just been cut off.

The only ones able to effectively avoid the storm of strings was Frisk, while Chara and Asriel were quick to cut them apart with their respective blades. Error just gazed at the three of them with a mad grin.

 **"And here they are...the three main troublemakers...all standin' together...now ain't that somethin'?"** Error shook his head in wonder. **"You three kiddos are a lot more trouble than you're worth, sometimes...but this is as far as you go."**

"Not likely." Chara narrowed their eyes, lifting their Real Knife cautiously.

 **"So, Chara...what'll it be? In a rather crazy twist, you have the most Determination at the moment. You can give up Asriel and Reset the timeline...or ya can keep things the way they are, with everyone else being dead. Though I get the feelin' that the latter option would be against your better judgement."**

"Don't tell me what to do or how to think." Chara reinforced, keeping their guard up, awaitng any further action from the glitching skeleton. They wouldn't take their eyes off of him for even a single moment. Asriel, however, seemed a bit hesitant. There was a very unlikely chance that Chara would be willing to reset the timeline, because that would render their efforts and experiences pointless. Asriel didn't want that to happen, yet he also did not want to leave the timeline as it is...there had to be a way.

 **"Maybe this'll help ya think a bit clearer~"** Error taunted as mutliple Error Blasters manifested into existence. Asriel and Chara both prepared themselves, trying to come up with a way to counter. Though their eyes widened in horror as they realized that they weren't his target.

The both of them were quick to jump forward as they both pushed Frisk out of the way of the onslaught of Judgement Hall was suddenly filled with yet another blinding white flash of light, one that nearly blinded everyone who witnessed it. The only ones who didn't flinch were Toriel and Asgore, who's own eyes were wide with horror and disbelief, not even finding the energy to scream in outrage/despair.

The smoke cleared, the light dies down. Asriel and Chara lie on their sides, battered and bruised by the blast. However, Frisk was mostly unharmed.

"...Curses...' Chara muttered as they tried to gain the energy to get back up from the massive attack. "...There's...no way...I'm...going to...give in..."

"Ngh..." Asriel groaned, gritting his teeth.

 **"And here we have them, lying broken and ashamed, ladies and gents!"** Error said, mockingly clapping. **"May I present to you, Asriel and Chara Dreemurr! Two of monsterkinds _WORST_ mistakes!"**

"WHY YOU...!" Asgore growled out, eyes glowing with fiery fury.

"HOW _**DARE**_ YOU SPEAK OF MY BABIES LIKE THAT!?" Toriel shouted in outrage, wanting nothing more than to incinerate Error where he stood.

 **"Truth hurts."**

Chara continued to try and recover, though they fell back down with a pained grunt. Frisk immediately ran by their side, kneeling by them. Asriel soon grabbed a bit of rubble, and was slowly struggling to stand up on his own two feet. His eyes narrowed as his sclera were still black, and the markings were still on his cheeks. His left arm was terribly burned by the onslaught of blaster fire, and he could feel no sensation within it. But he stayed standing and he was panting for breath. He glares defiantly at Error.

 **[Music: His Theme]**

"...I...we...we're not...giving up..." Asriel said slowly, his eyes being overshadowed as he cradled his arm. "No way are we going to just let this to happen..."

Error huffed a bit as he raised his left hand. **"Tch. And what are _you_ gonna do about it, huh? Little Crybaby Asriel Dreemurr. What can _you_ possibly do?"**

Asriel shook his head defiantly. "I have no idea who you are or why you're doing this, and I won't pretend that I understand. But right this moment...that's not my main concern. I don't like the way you do things. You've killed most of the monsters in the Underground...and for what? Because things aren't the way they should be? Because they aren't in the original history? Is that _really_ such a bad thing...?"

 **"Ya don't know what you're talkin' about, kid. I keep tellin' ya, you're not supposed to be here. Neither of you are."** Error frowned, lifting his hands again as blue threads attached to Error Blasters. **"You're just glitches...ya need to be dealt with. And I'm the guy who's gotta do it. It's a thankless job, and it might ALWAYS be a thankless job...but that's what makes it special to me. Somebody's gotta do it!~"**

The Prince continued to shake his head. "Are you saying...that even the _slightest_ change...is NEVER going to be allowed...? A change that can make everyone happy...is just some stupid _error_ to you? How can you carelessly and heartlessly destroy something just because it's different?! I'm going to say it again...I _**really**_ don't like the way you do things."

Error shook his head as Error Blasters began charging up again. **"Your opinion of who I am and what I do amounts to nothing. It's completely irrelevant. The only thing that matters is that this timeline perishes, as nothing is the same."**

"Chara is back. Maybe I don't fully understand how, but they're back. After such a long time...seeing them, _**truly**_ seeing them...it really makes me happy. Though according to you...that's not allowed. Chara has obviously been through a lot for my sake, and has suffered immensely. There's...there's no way I'm going to let them be taken away again! I **won't** allow it!"

Error narrowed his eye sockets. **"You're both beginning to be a real pain. Enough time has been wasted on you. You may think you have a choice in these matters, but news flash, kiddo... _ya don't_." ** All of the Error Blasters fired once again, taking aim towards Asriel and Chara. The others began struggling frantically, mainly Asgore and Toriel. Chara tried their hardest ti stand back up in time.

"If you think we're just going to accept that what you're doing is the way things have to be...if you think that we're just going to lie down and let ourselves die...you're _wrong_." Asriel raised his head and narrowed his eyes, glowing green. "Our fates are not for **_you_** to decide!"

 **[Music Stop]**

 _ **BOOM!**_

Toriel and Asgore screamed in despair and deisbelief as they thought they saw the six blasts consume the two children, with Frisk being blown away and hitting a pillar behind them. Error grinned as the Error Blasters light died down. Though when the smoke cleared, his grin immediately falls, and was replaced by an outraged scowl. For good reason, too.

 **"No freaking way! _YOU?!_ " **

Asriel blinked, realizing that he and Chara were not dead again. He looked up, and was briefly surprised by the skeleton in front of him. He looked a lot like Sans as well...but with a paintbrush? He looked up and once again blinked in confusion. The paint-covered skeleton turned his head towards Asriel and nodded in approval.

"Well said, Your Majesty! You don't need to worry anymore. I'll take it from here."

Asriel heard these words, but couldn't properly process them, as he falls forward on the ground, slowly losing consciousness...

 **{?}**

Asriel slowly opened his eyes, getting used to the light filling them. He blinked a couple times as he could feel that a couple things seemed a bit out of place. First, he seemed to be in a small room, an infirmary of sorts. His head, and badly burned arm were wrapped up in bandages. He also had quite a splitting headache, which kicked in a couple seconds after waking up.

"Ooowww..."

Not fun.

Anyway, the second thing he noticed was that Chara was in another bed next to him. They were also wrapped in bandages, including their missing arm. But other than that, they were mostly alright. Asriel lowered his eyes in relief. _Chara..._ His relief vanishes in a moment, however. He looks around in confusion. _Where are we...? Where are the others? Are they okay?!_

The door to the room slowly opens, causing Asriel to shift his head quickly towards it. He was surprised to see that same skeleton with the paintbrush. He grinned brightly. "Ha! Glad to see you recovering quickly, Your Majesty!"

"Huh...?"

The skeleton blinked a bit in confusion. Asriel noticed that his eye lights tend to chsnge shape and color whenever he did so. It was...strange. Then again, everything that's happened so far made no sense. The skeleton tapped his skull. "D'oh! Of course you look confused as all heck! You have no idea where you are, right? Or who I am, for that matter. Well, can't start things off like that, so allow me to introduce myself!" He cleared his nonexistent throat, before standing up straight with a triumphant pose and confident grin.

"Greetings, Prince Asriel Dreemurr! My name is Ink Sans! Guardian of the Multi-!"

 _ **"MY BABY!"**_

Poor Ink was aggressively-and comically-hip checked by a hysterical Toriel, who rushed towards Asriel and pulled him into a very tight hug. "Asriel, you're awake! Are you alright?! How are you feeling! Do you need something to eat?! Drink?! Can I get you anything at all to help you feel comfortable!?"

"Mom...I fine..." Asriel's muttered, his voice muffled by his mother's bosom. He soon managed to barely pull himself out of her grasp. "Mom...what's going on...?"

Toriel sighed, rubbing a paw over her head. "I don't quite understand it either, my child. But apparently, the skeleton I just rudely knocked over is named Ink Sans, and he's the one who saved your life. I do apologize, by the way!"

"It's cool...it's alright...I'm fine...you're welcome by the way...ow..." Ink Sans groaned, face planted into the ground. Soon after, a small child walked by him, lightly giggling at his predictament.

"It appears that you've been interrupted again, Ink. And not in a very classy manner."

"...One of these days..."

Asriel turned towards the child. His eyes widened in confusion. "... _Frisk?_ "

The child looked a lot like Frisk, though they were completely monochrome in color. And their eyes...he noticed there weren't actual eyes, but were simply black sockets. This was slightly unnerving, but Asriel didn't allow it to bother him too much.

"Error can't reach the Omega Timeline. So don't worry too much about him. You're safe." The child smiles. "I'll introduce myself as well. You are correct. But for clarification purposes, others refer to me as Core!Frisk."

* * *

 **Neither of them knew it at the time. But this was the start of a legendary friendship...as well as an amazing journey.**

 **I don't see a lot of instances where Core!Frisk forms a deep friendship with Asriel. Maybe you all won't agree, and that's fine. But I find the possibilities resulting from these two being close friends to be...quite interesting.**

 **Asriel and Chara were heavily injured, but still alive. What about the others?**

 **Until next time.**


	3. Core Frisk and Ink Sans

**Here's another chapter for you all!**

 **...Things aren't gonna get better anytime soon. It's quite unforunate, really. How much things are gonna suck for everyone here. How that happens, you may ask? Well...that's to be revealed in this chapter. Things don't go well for everyone here.**

 **Chapter Start!**

* * *

 _Core...Frisk...?_

Asriel thought quietly as he and Toriel stared quietly at the monochromatic child in confusion. Mostly Asriel, since he had just woken up after recovering a majority of his injuries. There must not have been any monster available nearby, otherwise he'd already be all better. And if his mother was here, then surely the others were here too, safe and sound. Well, probably not very sound, considering the series of events they've unfortunately been forced to endure without much warning. Then again, a _lot_ of things have just happened without warning, but this was definitely unexpected on an entirely new level. What mattered most to him right now was that his friends were seemingly safe, and no more people died in the skirmish.

Though that instigated a question he was very nervous to ask. What happened while he was unconscious?

"I'm sure you have plenty of questions on what has transpired while you were unconscious. But for now, we have to let the others know that you are alright." Core!Frisk said politely.

"Ngh...about time..." Chara groaned, sitting up and rubbing their neck with an exhausted sigh. "I was beginning to worry about you, you know? You really had me going there. I was going to be really angry if all of my efforts were for nothing. Especially because of some insane version of Sans that seems to have a serious grudge against alternate universes..."

"Alternate...Universes..."

Chara shook their head. "You won't get very far with me explaining it. It's better if Core!Frisk and Ink explained things to you."

"That would be best. Like Core!Frisk said, we'll have to properly have a group meeting with the others so we can all try to understand the circumstances we are currently in." Toriel said, still gently hugging Asriel close to her, lightly picking him up and carrying him over to Chara's bed. She sits down on the bed and pulls Asriel onto her lap, before reaching over and pulling Chara closer to her, gently kissing their head. "At the moment, I'm glad you two are alright."

"HEY! Are the punks awake yet?!" Undyne said while poking her head into the door, followed by Frisk, Sans, Papyrus, Alphys, and Asgore. They pushed through the door all at once, which resulted in them falling over and landing on top one another, groaning in pain. "Ow..."

"welp, that was definitely not the best of ideas.." Sans grunted as be was roughly picked up by Asgore, then gently set down on his feet. "huh...thanks."

"Don't worry about it." Asgore nodded quietly to the shorter skeleton, lightly patting his shoulder. He then turned towards Toriel, Asriel, and Chara. "Asriel...Chara...are you alright...?"

"They're fine, Dreemurr." Toriel said with narrowed eyes.

"Mom. Do I have to once again remind you that we're _his_ children too?" Asriel said seriously. Toriel flinched a bit at Asriel's tone. She didn't resist any further, gently setting Asriel and Chara down. Both of them made their way towards Asgore and gently hugged him. He picked them both up and returned the hugs lovingly. "We're okay, Dad. We're recovering just fine."

"I was afraid I was going to lose you both again..." Asgore said with a sigh of relief as he softly kissed both of their heads. "Thank goodness that isn't the case, and that you're both alright...I don't know what I would have done if you both had been..." He didn't dare finish the statement, just choosing to hug the children in his arms while Frisk made their way over to Toriel and took their place upon her lap.

"ARE WE GOING TO GET AN EXPLANATION FOR ALL OF THIS? I HAVE SEEN PLENTY OF HOUSES OUTSIDE, AS WELL AS TREES AND FLOWERS AND OTHER THINGS. YET THE SKY WAS COMPLETELY WHITE. IN FACT, A LOT OF SPACE OUTSIDE IS JUST PURE WHITE." Papyrus said with concern and unease once he remembered what he saw outside. "WHAT IS THAT SPACE OUTSIDE? WHERE ARE WE? AND WHAT HAPPENED...?"

"And what happened to that guy?" Undyne stuck her thumb towards Ink, who was still lying om the ground recovering from being knocked down so forcefully. "The painter guy that looks like Sans...did he get in some sort of mishap or something?"

"Let's just say that getting in-between a mother and her child is not a genius idea, even if you don't know where she's coming from." Ink mumbled while sitting up and rubbing his aching skull. He got over it for a bit and smiled. "Well, now that we're all safe from Error's attack, I think we can all rest easy for a bit. And now we can all introduce ourselves." Ink then folded his arms and posed a bit heroically. "My name is Ink Sans! And-"

"Ink Sans is the Guardian of the Multiverse, and also Error's main rival." Core!Frisk interrupted. Their eyes widened a bit as they see Ink Sans cradle himself into a ball while sitting into a corner. "Oops. Guess I was the one who disrupted your introduction this time. My apologies."

"My cool intros rarely make the full cut...it's not fair..." Ink muttered grumpily, childishly pouting in annoyance, though not exactly angry towards Core!Frisk themselves.

Alphys raised her paw in a timid manner, not really knowing how to proceed yet having a decent idea. "A-And you told us your name was C-Core!Frisk, right? Why is that?"

Core!Frisk turned towards her and nodded. "Indeed, my name is Core!Frisk. As to why that is...well...allow me to summarize. I am from an alternate timeline, one where I've constantly repeated a Pacifist Run, because I enjoyed the adventure so much that I never wanted it to end. Well...Sans wasn't exactly pleased by that. So he did the only thing that could have possibly stopped me and the RESETS."

"...what exactly did i do to you...?" Sans asked with apprehension.

"You threw me into the Core, and I was scattered across space and time. As a result, I have taken a drastic change in color scheme, and I became somewhat omniscient to some degree, as well as omnipresent. I can see many things, and be in many places, simultaneously."

Sans looked somewhat horrified by that explanation. Was he really so desperate to stop the RESETS that he'd actually throw Frisk into the Core? And this...this 'Core!Frisk' was the result of this drastic action? He did consider it a possibility. A possibility of many.

...was it getting hotter in here?

 **"...He... _did_... _WHAT?!_ " **Toriel felt her entire body bathe itself with fire, and her eyes began glowing with rage, glaring towards Sans and towering over him. He felt himself shrink pathetically under her gaze, his eye sockets going dark with fear.

"Please Toriel, calm yourself. There is no need to hold this Sans accountable for the actions of another." Core!Frisk reasoned in an attempt to keep her from burning Sans to a crisp. "Besides, that is hardly our top priority at the moment. We have other things that are in clear need of discussion. Obviously we need to recount what happened after Asriel fell unconscious from his injuries. Asriel, would you like for me to recount for you what happened after you lost consciousness?"

"Huh? Well, uh...yes. I would actually really appreciate that. I was just so worried about the others. I don't really mind what happens, just so long that everyone made it alright."

Core!Frisk frowned a bit at this, but not about the others being alright. It was about something else. "Asriel...while I too am glad that everyone made it out of Error Sans' grasp...I'm afraid it did not come without without some form of consequence."

"before you get to that, ya mind first tellin' us who that other me was, and why he felt the need to wipe out everyone in the underground before tryin' to take us out too?" Sans asked, sitting down in a chair in order to get comfortable. He had an accurate prediction that this wouldn't be a very positive subject to discuss.

Ink Sans turned towards Sans with a soft nod. "Right. Things involving Error Sans are incredibly complicated, so I'll keep it nice and simple. I am a Protector of Alternate Universes, or AU's. I'm an avid supporter of new worlds being born and new possibilities being explored. As you can probably guess by my super awesome paintbrush and painter garbs, I'm a full supporter of creativity, so checking out new worlds being born is totally _awesome!_ Of course, sometimes I can't really let anyone _see_ me, unless a situation is critical enough for my direct intervention to be necessary. And this is one of those serious circumstances, since this involves the Classic Universe."

"how so?"

"Here's the thing. Error is a... _complicated_ guy. I don't wanna see him as a _bad_ guy...even with him declaring himself a destroyer of AU's because they're just incredibly different from the Classic Universe, and he believes there should only be one." Ink rolled his eyelights. "So he's gotta be all like blah blah blah 'mistakes', blah blah blah 'glitches', blah blah blah 'unwanted static' and all that other stuff I don't usually listen to half the time. Though to be fair, he doesn't really listen to me, either. Don't destroy this, Error! Don't destroy that, Error! No Error, I spent a long time painting that! Stop trying to kill me Error, it's _REALLY_ rude and is NOT a good friend a making technique!" The paint covered being was speaking of Error more in the fashion of an annoyed sibling than an actual enemy.

"...Are you SURE he's not just a bad guy...?" Undyne questioned uneasily.

"I'm still sticking to the argument that he's a complex guy who doesn't fully know what he's doing...which brings us to our current and VERY troublesome problem." Ink folded his arms and began pacing the room. "As I said before, him destroying AU's and me trying to stop him is pretty much how we operate most of the time...so it came to a **VERY** serious shock to both me and my monochrome friend here when he suddenly attacked the Classic Universe without warning. He's made a point that the Classic Universe is NOT to be touched on any circumstance whatsoever...which only makes his attack that more thought-provoking."

"Error is a very unpredictable anomaly. And his intense hypocrisy only makes him even more so, as well as extremely dangerous." Core!Frisk took over. "He says the Classic Universe isn't to be damaged, lest unfathomable consequences occur as a result. In this Classic Universe, Chara from a Genocide Timeline regained their soul, stole Frisk's soul before killing them and their consciousness, jumped into the timeline of the near end of a Pacifist timeline, and gave the new soul to Asriel. Is that close to accurate, Chara?"

"Yes."

"...I see." Core!Frisk nodded. "Nevertheless, the most likely fact remains: Error couldn't identify the Classic Universe accurately anymore. There were far too many alterations of the timeline at once to be considered the Classic Universe in his vision, so he must have mistaken it as yet another 'glitch' , and chose to attack and attempt to erase it. Luckily Ink managed to rescue you all before he had a chance to kill you as well."

"Yeah. I knew his eyesight was bad, but _this_... this is _ridiculous_!" Ink shook his head. "He has no idea what he's just done, and I don't think he has the patience to care, seeing as he left before he could get into the Omega Timeline. He was going to break in here, but I stopped him. He kind of ditched me after that."

Asriel gazed at Core!Frisk with very concerned eyes, then held that same expression when he looked towards Ink. "What...what happened when I fell unconscious? We're in this...Omega Timeline...and not in our own anymore. And based on what Frisk said...something seriously bad happened that forced us to retreat here. What's the matter? What happened to the timeline...?"

Ink Sans sighed, turning away from Asriel, his lights blinking again into a red circle and purpl rhombus. Asriel is still trying to wrap his head around the fact that it happens every time he blinks. "Ya see...I did manage to save you all in time. And I did pretty well to protect you all from Error. However, things went seriously donwhill from there..."

 **(Accessing Memory: Ink Sans)**

Ink Sans stood defiantly against the glitching skeleton, not moving an inch from Asriel and Chara for a moment. Things have been absolutely chaotic here in the Classic Universe, and this is not what he expected once he got there. Error was being incredibly difficult right now, and was right in the middle of causing a major catastrophe. He had to stop him as soon as he possibly could, as well as figure out how to fix this mess. _If_ he coul fix this mess. He hoped he could.

 **" _Uuuuuuggggh!_ Stupid Artist! Are you seriously trying to get in my way again?!" **Error shouted in frustration, which was caused by this new arrival thwarting his attempt to kill Asriel and Chara.

"What the flying heck are you doing, Error?! Attacking the Classic Universe like this?! You're the one who said it was off-limits! This is taking hypocrisy _waaaaaaay_ too far!" Ink barked back, standing his ground and holding his brush outwards.

 **"Are you blind? This is _NOT_ the Classic Universe! Those two little brats shouldn't be alive in the True Pacifist Timeline! Hell, one of them is from Soulless Pacifist! EVERYTHING is wrong! And I'm gonna fix it." **Error snarled as he summoned multiple Error Blasters. **"This doesn't concern you! Take a hike, Ink!"**

 _ink...?_ Sans thought as he stared at yet another double of his. Though given his body language and his quick defense of Asriel and Chara, it was safe enough to assume that he was not another enemy. Especially since he's going against the one who is attempting to kill them all. Though this 'Ink' was saying some awfully strange things right now. He didn't really know what to think of it right now, but the main thing to worry about was that they survived. But for how long?

"Sorry, but your level of cuckoo is dangerously off the charts this time! I can't let this go on!" Ink declared strongly in absolute defiance.

Error grinned in a psychotic manner. **"Alright then. If that's how you wanna play...then I'll kill you too!"**

"You say that a lot. Haven't succeeded yet~" Ink said playfully. Error's grin immediately fell from this.

 **"... _Yeeeeep_...I'm SOOOO gonna kill ya." **

**[Theme: Inklovania-Alofoxy]**

It began so quickly.

Multiple Error Blasters manifested over Error's head, swiftly took aim towards Ink and fired at him without a second thought. Ink just grinned confidently as the beams seemingly reached their target, destroying a large portion of the Judgement Hall in the process. Error frowned, knowing he missed before the smoke even cleared up. If he didn't, he was sure he would have killed Asriel and Chara in the process since they were right behind him. he was proven correct once he sees the both of them lying next to Toriel and Asgore, who were pretty shocked to see them there so quickly. Error glared as he swiftly turned around and shot his threads outward again. Ink was revealed to be a few feet behind him, and jumped upwards to avoid them all striking the ground, making craters.

"Ya missed me!~" Ink grinned, swirling his paintbrush and placed it behind his back for the time being. Error glared and began shooting glitching bones in his direction, though Ink once again disappears from view and reappears a few feet sideways. "Nope~" Error once again blasted a beam in his direction, though he once again avoided the blast, this time by jumping to the side with his arms folded, scarf flailing with his. "Nu-uh!~" Error then stretches his threads out towards him, attempting to ensnare him in a thread trap directly. Though Ink avoids it by jumping upwards, forcing them to grab empty air. "Not even _close_!~"

 **"Quit dodging, dammit!"** Error growled as he continued tracking him with his blue threads. Ink was far too fast for them to catch, however. He then sweatdropped. _I feel irony coursing through me and I have a prety good idea as to why that is..._

"Nah. I don't feel like getting caught today." Ink shrugged while casually avoiding the threads time after time. 'We haven't played together in quite a while this time, Error. You've gotten a bit sloppy since I last saw you, didn't you? Your threads used to be _waaaayyy_ faster!"

 **"Shut up!"** Error lashed his threads out and once again attempted tried to catch Ink with his threads. Ink grinned as they attempted to wrap around him again, but they once again failed to catch him, and he vanished without a trace. Error glared in frustration as he searched for the painter. Error suddenly felt something on his head, and he twitched in aggravation at the sudden realization. **"...Bastard...what the hell are you doing...?"**

"You refuse to acknowledge your degrading skill, my ever grumpy rival?" Ink said while he cupped his chin with one hand and closed his eye sockets, balancing one foot on Error's skull. as his scarf flows freely. "You continue to go around doing stuff without honing your skills. You allow your skills to get stale, while I continue to grow stronger! Mwahaha!~"

 **"Get offa me!"** Error shouted as glitched bones manifested over his head and attempted to pierce through Ink, only for him to do a skillful backflip, his arms folded as he dodges every single glitched bone headed his way, then landed on his feet with grace as he keeps his grin on his face. He then swiftly takes his brush out and swatting at any remaining bones, deflecting them all and destroying them on contact. **"Stand still! Knock it off and fight me seriously! Then die like the glitch you are!"**

"Not gonna lie, Error...that doesn't really sound very good. Especially the last part!~" Ink shook is head as he continues to jump out of range from the bones, occasionally swatting them away and deflecting them completely.

Undyne and the others were watching the battle with confused and shocked. She folded her arms and tilted her head. "What the hell. That glitching skeleton was handing us our asses a couple moments ago, yet that painted one is making him look like a joke!"

"No...it's not that. He's definitely taking this seriously. Though I suppose this is just how he deals with stress." Asgore narrowed his eyes. "I can't explain it thoroughly...though I can very much tell that he's completely serious about this."

"ya think so, huh..." Sans said quietly. "wonder what that guy could be all about...?"

"Sans!" Ink suddenly shouted, swatting his brush and deflecting the glitched bones away, while turning towards Sans and the others, suddenly looking serious. "Sans! Take the others and find a door! Any door! Think of a safe place to go, open it, and then step through! I'll hold Error off for as long as I can before catching up." Ink swiped his paintbrush as splotches of paint shot towards Error, which was blocked by a wall of glitched bones.

 **"What are you going to...wait a minute..."** Error's eye sockets narrowed dangerously. **"The Omega Timeline. I am NOT gonna let that happen! I'm not letting any of you get away!"** Error manifested multiple Error Blasters in midair and shot all of them straight at Ink. Ink got serious as he splotched a line of green paint across the ground, and suddenly a large green wall blocked the bones effortlessly, unable to be pierced.

" _NOW_ , SANS!" Ink shouted with more force behind his voice as he swipes more splotches of paint towards Error, which quickly turned into spikes and nearly pierced Error's coat.

Sans was somewhat confused by this sudden turn of events. However, he knew that this was serious business once the smile on Ink's face fell and grew into a serious frown and his attacks grew ever more serious. After some moments of contemplation, he nodded quickly as he grabbed Papyrus's hand and ran off with him. Asgore and Toriel didn't understand what was going on either, but they heard the words 'safe place' and took the possible option of some sort of safe haven. They picked up Chara, Frisk, and Asriel very quickly, then left very quickly, followed by Undyne carrying Alphys along with her. Error snarled angrily as he attempted to lash out towards them with blue threads, but they were sliced apart by Ink's brush sharpening to the point of resembling a blade. They both stood across from each other with serious glares.

"I'm telling you, Error...this is the Classic Timeline! You can't be messing with it like you are now! The consequences could be too severe for _either_ of us to handle!" Ink declared with narrowed eye sockets and a twirling brush. "It doesn't matter what you think or what you're feeling, but I can't let you kill anyone else in the timeline! You've done too much damage already! Who knows might happen if this continues!"

 **"Shut up! I'm gonna do what I gotta do! And a loser painter like you is NOT gonna stop me!"** Error shouted as his blue threads spread out more, and multiple Error Blasters manifested above his head. **"You don't know what you're talking about, Ink! This timeline is damaged beyond repair, so I gotta get rid of it at any cost! Nothing is as it should be, and it's all glitched out! I need to clean it up!"**

"This timeline was fine until you started butting into it! You messed everything up when things were going so well! You think you're _cleaning_ this timeline?! If anything, you're making an even BIGGER mess than before!" Ink shouted, angrily swiping his brush with blue paint splotches manifesting in the air. The paint shifted and molded into Gaster Blasters dripping with paint, but still looking just as menacing and powerful. They were up to the same amount as Error's Error Blasters. "It really sucks how casually you step on and destroy people's happiness just because it's so drastically different from the usual routine! Why can't you just leave things the way they are?!"

 **"You just don't get it, and I doubt you ever will. You and I are NEVER gonna see eye socket to eye socket on this issue, so you're gonna have to give up on talkin' me out of it."**

"I _CAN'T_ let you do this, Error!"

 **" _YOU DON'T HAVE A CHOICE!_ " **

With an outraged shout, both of them fired their respective blasters at one another, the beams of energy colliding against one another with destructive force, forceful and powerful enough to nearly destroy the Judgement Hall in it's entirety. Despite the blinding beams of light, the two rivals never stepped away, staring each other down as the beams continued to collide. Ink's scarf and the jacket wrapped around his waist rustled with the powerful shockwaves caused by the blast; Error's jacket was rustled by the blast as well, though he put his arm in front of his eye sockets a bit to proctect from the debris, but not enough for him to take his eye sockets off of Ink. Both of their blasts continued to collide, until they resulted in a destructive explosion that devastated the rest of the hall. Ink splotched a green paint wall in front of him, while Error raised a glitched wall of bones again. The light slowly dies down as the smoke clears up, and the two powerful beings stood across from each other. They were frsutrated, yet not tired at all.

 **"...I'm _through_ dealing with you. I'm following those twerps to the Omega Timeline."**

"I will _not_ allow that."

 **"Do you really think you can stop me?"**

"I've done so before, I'll do it again." Ink raised his paintbrush defensively. Error raised his hands as more threads spread from them. Before either of them could attack again...

 _ **CRACK...**_

 **[Music Stop]**

 **"...What is that?"** Error deadpanned as he sees a crack in midair. Not just any crack, it was gray and menacing...and it was spreading quickly. **"Ink? What the hell did you do?!"**

"How are you going to blame this on me?! If anything, _you_ did something to caused this!" Ink shouted. The crack began spreading further...and the entire Judgement Hall began to gray, slowly losing all of it's color. Ink's eye sockets darkened as he realized what was going on. This wasn't a Reset, nor was it a Load. It was something significantly worse than either of those things. He slowly shook his head in realization. "Oh no...this is bad...this is really, really, _really_ bad! You see what you did Error, you glitched out idiot!"

 **"Why you-!"** Error was cut off by the cracks widening even further, separating the two by forcing them to jump away from each other. Error glared at Ink, and Ink glared back. **"...You lucked out. Another time then, Ink."** Error held his hand behind him and opened a portal to the Anti-Void, jumping through it and closing it behind him.

Ink narrowed his eye sockets after him, but he didn't have enough time to worry about it, as the gray cracks continued to spread and branch out into wider and more visible cracks in space-time. With a reluctant sigh, Ink turned around and ran away from the cracks, and he could feel time continuing to slow, and the cracks continuing to spread out and branch into even more cracks. He made a point to catch up with the others and make it to the Omega Timeline where the others were sure to have made it by now. He could feel time continuing to slow down more and more.

"W-W-What's happening?!" Alphys looked around. Everything was turning gray, and things were slowing down immensely. "Everything is losing it's color, and everything was slowing down to truly unnerving degrees."

"i'm not liking the looks of this..." Sans looked around, on edge. There was so much going on here that he felt like he should understand, yet he was feelong below average for not being able to do so. That 'Ink' person said that imagining a door leading to a safe place, but he didn't know what he was talking about. He probably asked him because he was most likely to figure it out. He said any door would do, so he really didn't have to be picky about this. None of them had the time.

"I'll try this one!" Asgore narrowed his eyes as he held his paw outward and thought about the safe place that Ink mentioned. He closed his eyes and reopened as he pushed the door open. He and the others eyes widened as they stepped into the room. There was a seemingly infinite white void that seemingly went on forever. "What...what is this...?"

"No time for questions! Just go!" Ink shouted from behind as he rushed towards the entrance. In a panic, they all ran into the door and allowed it to close behind them. The door disappears, as the timeline continues to slow down further and further...

...until it stopped completely.

 **(Present)**

"The Omega Timeline is a special place, a place I created on my own. It's a place where surviors from destroyed timelines come for salvation. It's a place of safety for them. A sanctuary." Core!Frisk said while gazing calmly at the group. "Error Sans wishes to find this place, but he can't. It's never in one exact place at a time. To him, it's constantly moving around, he could never get an exact location. That's good. We never want him to reach this place, because we know full well what he'll do if he gets in here."

"Y-Yeah..." Asriel looked to the side, his eyes lowering at the recount of Ink's experiences. "So...the timeline...what happened to it?"

"i'd like to know that myself." Sans folded his arms. It was easy for him to notice that it wouldn't be good news, as both Core!Frisk and Ink Sans suddenly looked much more downtrodden than before. It was especially evident from Core!Frisk, as they began hugging their arms in a gesture of guilt. "guessin' it's not good?"

"...The Classic Universe...it's..." Core!Frisk began, lowering their had in shame. "It's completely frozen. It...it _crashed_."

"Crashed? What does that mean?" Asriel asked, fearful of the answer.

"The Classic Universe. Due to Chara leaving a Genocide Timeline technically incomplete, jumping into a True Pacifist timeline and giving Asriel a new soul, Error Sans killing all of the inhabitants of the Underground before they could leave for the Surface, Ink and Error fighting one another...everything happened too quickly. The timeline was unable to keep up with all of the alterations that were too close together. It would have been okay at the point of Asriel being revived and stopping right there...but Error Sans' intererence brought it to the breaking point, and it was unable to keep itself stabilized from all of the strain. It finally cracked due to the intensity of his battle with Ink, and then time just...stopped functioning." Core!Frisk lowered their eyes further, nearly closing them. "Everything is black, white, and gray...the wind no longer blows...the birds no longer sing...and the flowers are unable to bloom...the Classic Universe in it's entirety. Everything just stopped...it crashed."

"An Error messed everything up." Ink folded his arms. He was currently too solemn to even register the pun. "It's seriously bad, guys. The world _completely_ stopped functioning." Ink then turned towards Frisk, who suddenly adopted a shameful expression of their own. "Not even a Reset was able to fix it. All the timelines in the Classic Universe just...stopped. The Classic Universe no longer functions, and as far as we currently know, we can't fix the damage. And we're also not sure if there are any more negative effects to watch out for, though we're not shooting down the possibility."

Everyone took a moment to properly take in what's beng told to them. The many changes to the timeline, and the Universe as a whole...it had far too many changes to properly keep up with at once. Chara's timeline hopping and Error's interference put together has placed far too much stress on the timeline. With everything that happened at once, it could no longer keep up. So it just completely stopped before it destroyed itself from the strain, which would have created even worse consequences. But it didn't mean that the current consequences were any less severe. Asriel's eyes slowly began to widen from the realization, and everyone else slowly began to understand as well.

...Undyne was the only one with enough courage to begin voicing their thoughts. "...Are you saying...that time completely stopped in a period that all of the monsters in the Underground aside from ourselves are dead...and this 'Reset' can't fix it...that means..."

"...We...we can never go back home...?" Alphys finished, her paws currenlt over her mouth with horrified eyes.

Core!Frisk looked up towards the others, looking like they were prepared to cry. "...I'm...I'm so sorry..."

* * *

 **...**

 **...**

 **...**

 **Pretty sure this is quite an unfortunate turn of events. The Classic Universe no longer 'functions'. It no longer 'works' due to Chara's timeline hopping and Error's intervention and being unable to tell the Classic Universe from an AU. Asriel and Chara being there _really_ set things off...and the consequences are clearly disasterous. As far as they know, the damage is too severe for a Reset to fix. As far as they know, everyone who's dead is gonna stay that way. As far as they know...going to the home as they know it is not gonna happen. **

**...This won't be causing Asriel and Chara any good emotions, will it?**


	4. Deep Thought

**I wondered if I could convey angst without anyone saying a single word. A good portion of this chapter is a result of this.**

 **Yep. That's a thing. Wonder how that's gonna work out.**

* * *

Core!Frisk was sitting down and hugging their knees, their eyes completely closed for the time being. After the tragic news has been delivered to everyone, they mostly stayed silent and separated into different directions. Since it was possible for the Omega Timeline to adjust to changes and accommodate the inhabitants as best as it possibly could, there wasn't any issues with them finding a place to rest. And they definitely needed the rest after this horrible ordeal of theirs. It helps since they have nowhere else to go, their Universe has completely ceased to function and it left them unable to return. It was terrible timing, as Error killed all of the monsters aside from the main six before they could make it to the Surface. Asriel's revival, Chara's timeline crossing, and Error's interference did critical amounts of damage to the Classic Universe. Had the changes stopped at Asriel's revival, everything would have been fine. Though Error's direct attack was the last straw, putting everything out of balance and forcing everything to freeze and stop functioning. The birds no longer sing, the flowers can no longer bloom, and the wind can no longer howl. Everything can no longer move. It was completely devoid of life, Error made sure of that.

...There was no way these events could transpire without major consequences, not even counting the trauma that it most likely inflicted on the survivors.

"Frisk...it isn't your fault..." Ink said as he kneeled next to the child, gently petting their hair.

"We should have acted sooner, Ink..." Core whimpered softly, holding their head and shaking it slowly. "If we had stepped in sooner, then maybe more could have been done for the Classic Universe. But every timeline within it has been completely frozen and we have no idea how to undo it. It might have been prevented in it's entirety if it was Reset before the damage could fully take over...but..."

"Right..." Ink sighed.

The Chara they see is from a Genocide timeline. But what they've done was beyond reckless and dangerous. That timeline was technically incomplete, and they went and crossed into another one with a multi-colored soul that is _much_ more powerful than it looks. And they also chose to give it to Asriel in order to save him. They know of the script that they were being force to follow...and they choice to burn it and go their own way. They of course didn't have any knowledge of Error Sans interfering and ruining their reckless plan, but got over it surprisingly quickly by attempting to stop him, even with only one arm. One. Arm. The other which was blasted off by one of Error's Blasters with merciless killing intent. Ink could tell that this Chara was much calmer than they appeared, but this bordered on outright ridiculousness...and it was also quite disturbing. Ink has seen many disturbing things many times, whether he wanted to or not. That doesn't make them easier to witness, however.

"...There are going to be consequences for this. Error Sans' hypocrisy and insanity has caused him to make a very critical...you know." As much as they would appreciate the mood being lightened even a little bit, they both knew that now wasn't the time for puns. Something has to be done, and they had to act quickly. But not too quickly. Because the current occupants of the Omega timeline were, in the words of many a Sans, having a bad time. "I think we should go check on them again, see how they're doing. I mean, it helps to keep track of progress, right?" Ink sighed while rubbing his skull. Of course they're not alright. They've basically exiled from their own world, which isn't going to see a revival as things are. After the happy ending was within sight, it was cruelly yanked away from them in the worst possible way. Not even a Reset is as bad as this, because it could as least be regained. Now they can't even do _that_. Sans, Frisk, and Asriel were going to be especially upset about this.

Core!Frisk sighed softly as they stood up and held Ink's hand. "Alright. Let's go see how they're adjusting to the terms of their situation...even though we know it isn't very likely. But there isn't any harm on trying, I can at least agree with you on that." Ink shared his sentiment on checking on them. How they were reacting, how they were coping, how they were interacting...and if they can surpass this period of despair.

They were all still relatively close together, but still gave each other space so they would have room to process everything that's happened so far. Undyne and Alphys were sitting in one direction. Sans was standing a few feet in the other direction, away from everyone else, all by his lonesome. Papyrus was trying to gather up his courage to try and confront him about everything that's happened. He seemed to have some knowledge about how and why something like this happened. Toriel, Asgore, Asriel. Frisk, and Chara...they were having a very difficult time processing all of this, probably even more than Sans.

Ink's eye sockets dimmed when he saw Sans' depressed state. It was highly unfortunate that he has sunken to an entirely new level of depression, and he hasn't yet said a word since. He hoped that Papyrus would be able to get him to speak again. The Dreemurrs were in an even worse position since the three children feel responsible for the entire ordeal to begin with, due to their abilities. There was no telling what they could do later on. Core!Frisk wondered what the trio would do, and how Toriel and Asgore would respond to that, as well as how the others might react to this. They were especially worried about Asriel and Chara, for deeper and more apparent reasons. Only time will tell. They would just quietly observe so they wouldn't upset them further than they already were.

Undyne was doing something that she didn't particularly do very often...she was in deep thought. As in actually think _very_ deeply about what has transpired up to this very point.

This isn't to say that she doesn't think at all. There are plenty of times where she usually relied on her mind if Alphys wasn't available to assist her, which were incredibly rare circumstances. But besides those things, she usually acted in a completely different manner. She didn't always think things through. A majority of the time, she simply followed her heart and see where it leads her. This attitude hasn't always brought her the best of fortune, but everyone appreciated how honest and true she was. Especially Alphys. Alphys has admitted that she loved Undyne due to how honest and strong she can be. Undyne had responded in kind. Alphys has always thought of herself as weak and cowardly. But only a strong person can bring themselves to reveal a dark secret that they've kept hidden for years.

Alphys complimented Undyne in ways that truly count. Undyne was fiery, Alphys was not. The former relied on brawn, the latter relied on brains. When Alphys was down in the dumps-either literally or figuratively-Undyne has never failed to cheer her up simply from her very presence. Every time Undyne does something reckless or stupid that's more dangerous than she could currently handle, Alphys is usually the one to either try to stop her, or help her fix the mess. Hell, sometimes they do stupid things _together_ , and they have fun anyways. Not to mention they were diehard anime/manga fans.

But back to solely Undyne. She acted purely on her heart, and was determined to see her path to it's completion. So it brought her soul grave conflict that all she had to do in order to free the Underground and all the monsters trapped within...is to kill an innocent human. She had tried pushing herself onward to do so, forced herself to come up with excuses to take Frisk's life and his soul. But no matter what she did or how far she went...it left a bitter feeling in her soul. She wanted to be a hero for monsterkind. All she had to do was kill a child. She thought she was up for it. Of course she tried...but the bitter, soul-wrenching feeling of trying to kill someone who won't fight back...it left her deeply conflicted.

Frisk capitalized on this, and made a serious effort to become her friend, regardless of the danger they were possibly bringing to themselves. After an eventful session of tea-making, cooking, and fake-punches, they ultimately became friends and parted ways on better terms. She had hoped that they could convince Asgore not to take their soul, to find another way. Because she knew as much as Gerson did, that Asgore REALLY didn't many anyone else dying because of him. The poor king has had enough misery dumped on him already.

It was done. She didn't remember how for some reason, but the Barrier was shattered. Everything was looking up. Despite the strange appearances of Chara and Asriel, she didn't mind too much. They were headed to the Surface. They were _FINALLY_ free!

...then Error took that hope away from them in one of the worst ways possible. Everything was for nothing, as time has seemingly been frozen forever in their Universe. Undyne was the least depressed about this. Because she was more _**pissed**_ than depressed. They were so close. _So close._ And yet some glitchy Sans-lookalike swoops down and steals that hope away from them, and ensured despair upon their world, whether he meant to or not. If she ever crossed him again, she WILL make him pay.

Meanwhile, Alphys couldn't even fathom how much she wanted all of this to be a bad, lucid dream. But that definitely wasn't it, she's already checked. This horrible nightmare was all too real. She had thought that everything was going to be fine, that everything was going to work out...but of course she should have known better than to hope for too much. She hoped for too much, and pretty much lost everything that was important to her. She couldn't believe that something like this could have happened at such an opportune time for monsters. Everything had been going so well for her, everything was coming up Alphys...she should have known that it was too good to be true.

The Almalgamates. She had thought she could do it. Find an alternate way to break the barrier. But no matter how many time's she's tried, she's been met with been with so many failures and bitter defeat. There have been many more failures on her part than success. Endogeny, Lemon Bread, Reaper Bird, Snowdrake's Mother, and the Memoryheads. She had cursed herself to remember how she failed them even when she didn't try to. Her purpose wasn't to revive them, especially when they would only end up like these. Melted monsters fused together, and could never be undone again. They're a constant reminder of her failures, and yet she could never bring herself to tell the truth. She didn't think the Underground would forgive her...she didn't think _Undyne_ would forgive her. Especially since they've both gained the bravery to admit their feelings for one another, only for THIS disaster to happen.

But what haunted her most...was the Flower. Flowey the Flower...was a soulless reincarnation of **Prince Asriel Dreemurr**. She was horrified. Disgusted with herself. It was pure bad luck that she had to choose the _**ONE**_ flower out of an entire patch of them that had Asriel's dust on it, and it brought him back to life in that body. But he lacked a soul. He couldn't feel positive emotions. Only pure emptiness...and hate. He had been driven to madness by his inability to feel, and it lead him to doing many horrible things she didn't fully understand...but the fact remains tthat it was her fault. That sweet, kind, gentle Prince, who was to be the hope for all monsters, was reincarnated into a soulless flower with power over time and a hatred for an existence he can no longer enjoy. She did that to him. She hurt him. She tainted him. She corrupted him. She scarred him. She _**ruined**_ him. Even if he did forgive her, and even if he still kept that kindness of his...he would never truly be the same again. The trauma is too severe, and the guilt of what he's done was too heavy to ever forget. The horrible things he's done...she was the one who made it possible.

Only a complete failure like herself could find a way to actually _succeed_ in her reckless experiment in the _**worst way possible**_. To add onto that...Mettaton. No matter how narcisstic he acted, it was very clear that they were close friends. Now...Mettaton was gone. And so was everyone else. It was too much for her to handle.

Alphys felt sick to her stomach, as well as her soul. She felt like throwing up...and she eventually did. The Omega Timeline reacted to her as a trash bin appeared by her side. She eventually grabbed hold of it and released the magic bile that built up within her which was caused by the unrelenting guilt, and weight of her gravest sin. Undyne quickly went to her side and placed a caring hand on Alphys's back, but didn't say a word. When she eventually finished, all Alphys could do was cry. She allowed herself to completely collapse in Undyne's embrace, burying her face in her chest and hugging her tightly. Undyne slowly and tenderly hugged the weeping lizard, one hand around her back and the other hand petting her head. Undyne was even angrier now with Error. These series of events have been too much for Alphys, and now she was collapsing in grief while cursing her luck, wondering if fate had something against her. Nothing ever seems to go her way no matter how hard she tried, so she thought that fate simply hated her, and seeked to ruin her every possible chance at true happiness.

There was no doubt about it now. Error was going to _pay_.

Papyrus stared off in the distance, staring at Sans' back. He was constantly contemplating whether or not he should go and talk to him about what happened...but he was highly hesitant to do so. Usually this would be absolute blasphemy, as the Great Papyrus NEVER hesitates to do what he was determined to do. Unfortunately, this wasn't one of those things he could simply walk up and do. It was very obvious thaat Sans was in a very bad place, and was having a very bad time. So for the time being, he would just keep his distance and allow Sans his privacy. But that didn't mean that his mind was at peace. If anything...Papyrus was having a bit of a mental crisis, his thoughts doing battle with themselves.

There wasn't a lot of people who knew Sans better than Papyrus. Papyrus has pretty much memorized Sans' behavior patterns and decision making skills. Analysis...he was a lazy bum. He had some hot dog stands around, he hung out at Grillby's a lot, he usually acted pretty supportive of Papyrus's idolizing of Mettaton...which greatly upset both Papyrus and Alphys. Papyrus has always been there for Sans, and he's always tried to do his best to take care of him as best as he could. He had enough worries from working so hard to become a member of the Royal Guard...and then he's been told that the Royal Guard was no longer necessary, which was a complete letdown! What was the point of Frisk's journey then, if it was not to help Papyrus join the Royal Guard?! Tis' a mystery...

...A lot of things aren't how he knew them anymore. He didn't understand how, and he didn't understand why. But his world was gone, as well as nearly everyone he's ever known. And all because of that black glitchy skeleton that looked like Sans, which has lead him to believe that Sans has some major signifricsnce to all of this. Speaking of his brother...what were those draconic skulls he summoned and shot magic beams from? He's never known about Sans wielding such powerful magic, even though it did quickly burn out his stamina. It was a total shock for Papyrus...and it lead to him questioning Sans seriously. Not the nagging about his laziness sort of questioning, but actual wonder-and perhaps even concern-for his character. How did Sans do all of those things?How long had he been able to do them? Why did he never tell Papyrus about these abilities of his? He thoght he knew everything he needed to know about Sans...but it seems that Sans only showed what he wanted him to see.

...Maybe he didn't know Sans as well as he thought he did. What did that mean for their brotherly bond, especially with the way things were now...?

Sans was slowly looking into the white abyss, his eye sockets completely dark. Everything...everything is wrong. Sans has made a point to not indulge himself with wishful thinking, it would only only result in disappointment and despair. He's had plenty of those already, so it doesn't even surprise him that things went so horribly. What surprised him was what happened, how it happened, and the horrid timing of it all. Nothing made sense right now. And to be honest...maybe he didn't want it to make sense. He's done so much thinking that's led him nowhere but into the pits of disappointment and despair. It was much easier to not try so hard and just let things flow as they were...though he can no longer do that. Not with the way things were right now. This was not something he could ignore. No...things were far too serious for him to simply ignore.

First off, Flowey The Flower. Apparently he was the reincarnation of Asriel Dreemurr. The very same flower he's been beating the crap of from numerous timelines and been absolutely merciless with...yeah...he had a feeling that his friendship with Toriel was likely to take a serious downgrade with this new information. Another thing. Chara. They were...a wild card. He had only been completely sure that Frisk was the only other human in the Underground, yet this other human comes from a different timeline...a timeline in which most monsters have been killed by Frisk...and it really pissed Chara off. They hijacked the Genocide and used the oppotunity to cross timelines and help Asriel regain his form. They were also the child of Toriel and Asgore. It was absoluely crazy how this happened so quickly. And like Core!Frisk said, too much happened at once, and their Universe froze.

Sans sighed. He had hoped that something different and long-lasting would finally happen and stay that way...this is what he gets for holding on to hope, he supposed. Now what will everyone do? Where will they go and how they would progress. And what mostly concerns him is how much significant damage that their Universe freezing/crashing would do to everything else. It most likely wouldn't be anything good, given the circumstances. Everything has gone wrong, and they currently could not fix it. Melancholy seemed into Sans' soul, and he slowly closed his eye sockets. He wondered if there was any point in caring. He knew for sure he couldn't afford not to. But...

He was tired. It never really sunk in just how tired he was. But he knew now. He was really, _really, **really**_ tired.

Then finally, there was Asgore, Toriel, Asriel, Frisk, and Chara. They have been taking the most time to try and process this without letting despair take a hold of them. Despair hasn't taken hold of the trio, however. There was more frustration resonating in their souls than anything else, especially Asriel. But despite this, he remained silent. It was a stern, calm silence, bordering on serene. The upper half of his face as obscured by shadow, and his muzzle was locked in a tight line. One could say his expression was completely neutral, just like Frisk's. He was currently indecisive, thinking very deeply on what everyone should do next. Asriel was trying to keep a calm mind so he can think clearly. This was somewhat startling to Chara, as they've never seen Asriel look so incredibly focused before. They wondered where this sudden change came from, and why it was only happening now.

While they were wondering about that...they also wondered about the damaging effect that these events has had on everyone. They were all sad and disheartened by what had transpired. They could see how hopeful they were. How freedom was just within their grabs, and al they had to do was grasp it. All they wanted to do was have Asriel share that freedom and not be stuck as a soulless being. No one deserves to live like that. No one should have to surrender themselves to that kind of awful fate. They never wanted to see that again. And yet, they couldn't help but acknowledge that they were the ones who put him in such a miserable state because of their stupid and selfish plan. It was utterly pathetic of them to believe that the actions they took would have benefitted _anyone_ in the long run. Their parents lost two children due to their selfishness and their hatred for humans. They allowed those things to ruin a happy life that they thought they could never have.

They were going to be completely straightforward with themselves...they were scum. Pure, utter scum. What were they thinking?! How could they let this precious family?! The family that took them in, that fed them, bathed them, read them bedtime stories, tuck them in and kiss them goodnight...them kiss them good morning with goofy smiles on their faces...Chara ruined that. Chara ruined all of that happiness because they just couldn't be happy with what they had. They were given what no one else ever has. Love, protection, unerstanding, and a comfortable home. But _no_. It was impossible for them to just let that grudge go. It would have spared everyone a lot of suffering. They wanted to take one last swing at humanity, and for some stupid reason, thought that suicide was a _great_ idea. Asriel watched as Chara's life slowly drained before his eyes, and forced him to absorb his soul. Then he tried to force Asriel to kill some humans on the Surface,...Asriel refused. That refusal got Asriel killed as well.

Asriel...Asriel Dreemurr...their dear baby brother...how could they allow such a terrible thing to him? Asgore and Toriel? And the entire Underground to add on to it. A lot of monsters were suffering greatly, and they were responsible for what mostly happens to Frisk as well. And what do they get for trying to fix it all? The Underground has been wiped out, they were missing an arm, and their Universe was crashed.

Once again, Chara's actions ruined everyone's happiness, due to their own selfishness and recklessness. Their shame can't even be gauged. It was limitless. When were they going to learn to just leave well enough alone? Why couldn't they just vanish so they couldn't hurt anyone else? Why couldn't they just-

Chara's thoughts were silenced by Asriel suddenly embracing him in a warm, fluffy hug. Chara's eyes widened at this, especially at the words Asriel used to finally break the silence:

"I'm sorry Chara. I've been a bad friend, and a crummy brother."

Was Asriel blaming _himself?!_ Asriel shouldn't be apologizing to Chara! It should be the other way around. _They_ were the one who messed things up to near irrevocable levels, and it lead to the messed up crisis they were in now. But Asriel didn't give them a chance to counter, as he quickly relased Chara and walked a few feet away from them, and right in the center of the group of ten. Ink and Core were confused by the sudden development, but stayed quiet due to their piqued interest.

"Frisk...can you repeat what you said earlier? About our universe being crashed?" Asriel said quietly.

Core!Frisk blinked in surprise. Asriel had caught on to Core!Frisk wanting to still go by the name of Frisk, seeing that it's all they have left of themselves to go by. Not wanting to keep him waiting, they turned towards Asriel and nodded. "I mentioned it before. Due to the Classic Universe being under the strain of so much change so close to each other without room for adjustment, as well as Chara's timeline crossing. Since the Classic Universe froze up, every timeline within it aside from the one you exited from was also rendered inaccessible, and likely wiped out. Despite this, it could have been much worse. We can't ignore the consequences that might arise from this. They might lead to serious disaster if action isn't taken soon. Yet we are unable to do anything helpful directly towards the Classic Universe as long as it's in this state."

"...So it's possible to try and fix it _indirectly_?"

"...Asriel. What are you up to?" Ink asked, slightly suspicious.

Core!Frisk paused for a moment, slightly worried about Asriel's decision making. "...Asriel...don't think that I don't know what you are requesting of me. I can't promise that you'll find success in this. This isn't something you can just request so easily. There are many dangers that can accompany a mission such as this."

"I thought so." Asriel said without blinking.

"Are you really serious about this?"

"More than anything."

"The multiverse is not always some simple playground, Asriel. There are many different worlds, many different timelines, AU's. Which provide near-infinite possibilities and endless paths to take, leading to many uncertain outcomes...and not all of them are pleasant."

"Even if that's true, I won't use that as an excuse to not try. Because we're not going to make any progress at all if we just stay in here and do nothing."

Asriel didn't seem to be backing down from this, his Determination would not allow him to be denied. Core!Frisk was realizing this now, and so was Ink and the others. Something within Asriel...it was different. Not the bad kind of different...but it was definitely unexpected of him. Maybe it had something to do with his new soul? Of course he had his usual personality...but there seems to be something new added to it. Core!Frisk probably had an idea as to what this change was, and what it entails, but they would wait until they were certain.

"Asriel...what are you requesting of Core!Frisk...?" Chara asked, slowly standing up.

Asriel slowly turned towards the others, having gained their full attention. Asgore and Toriel looked especially worried, and it made Asriel nervbous himself...but he couldn't back out of it now. He's made his choice and was going to stick to it. He took a deep breath, and sighed deeply. "Everyone...our home...our home is gone. I know it's sad. It's sad, and it's tragic, and I wish we could have prevented it somehow...but sitting here in despair is not going to solve anything. If there's going to be any progress made to fixing this possibly multiverse-sized mess, then we need to get out there and do something about it. As soon as we possibly can." Asriel declared strongly. "We need to get the other AU's help in restoring our own universe. Earn their trust, their compliance. And the more we recruit...the higher chance we have at finding a way to fix our Universe."

"Asriel...son...that sounds incredibly dangerous. I mean...other universes...we have no idea what they might have in store for us. Besides, we just got you and Chara back. Something like this will put you at great risk of...of..." Asgore trailed off, not able to finish his thought. "...I just don't want to lose either of you again. There's...there's no gurantee that either of you will be completely safe..."

"Asriel...think deeply about this. This 'Omega Timeline', it's safe here. We can protect you here...there's no need for you to risk your life again, especially in such a manner." Toriel pleaded quietly, hoping Asriel would reconsider this. She just got her children back, she couldn't bear losing them again. She couldn't help but Agree with Asgore on that. Frisk watched in quiet wonder.

The Prince quietly shook his head. "The Omega Timeline may be a safe place...but we don't know for how long. And besides...we can't ignore that other Universes might be at risk because of this. There's no way we can allow that to go on. We have to help the other AU's, Mom. So that they can help us." Asriel reasoned, gazing at his parents strongly, which stunned the both of them greatly. He then turned towards Frisk and Chara. "Frisk...Chara. You two are very precious to me. In your own special ways, you're both very important to me. You both saved me when I was at my lowest at different points. I know I'm being selfish...but I'm going to need you both to help me through this. I won't be able to to do this on my own. I need to know that you'll be there to help me out when I need you." Asriel turned towards the others. "That goes for you guys as well...something like this is incredibly dangerous, I know. I can't do this on my own...none of us can. A lot of things are at risk now. Maybe it won't be immediate...maybe it will. It doesn't matter when this bad thing might happen, I just know that I want to keep this sort of thing from happening to other AU's. So please...I need to know...are you willing to help fix this mess?"

It's been quite a while since Asriel asked that question. They all stared at the three children who had made up their minds after simply looking at one another in agreement. It was inconceivable. And yet...

"...I-I'll help..." Alphys stuttered quietly, raising a paw. "W-We can't j-just let all that s-suffering we've b-been through be rendered c-completely pointless...e-especially not when we were so close to finally ending our nightmare. Plus...I'm sure Mettaton would have wanted me to try my best to make sure I was okay..."

"That glitched jerkass version of Sans thinks he's all that. Thinking it was okay to kill our friends and wreck our home!" Undyne gritted her teeth, painfully thinking back to Monster Kid. She clenched her fists and pounded them together. "He just made it personal. Next time I see him, he's gonna be in for a world of hurt!"

"...I WILL NOT PRETEND THAT I HAVE ANY IDEA OF WHAT'S GING ON, OR HOW WE'RE GOING ABOUT IT...BUT WHAT I DO KNOW IS THAT UNDYNE IS STILL MY CAPTAIN, ASGORE IS STILL MY KING, AND SANS IS STILL MY BROTHER. AND THE REST OF YOU ARE MY FRIENDS...EVEN THE ASGORE CLONES!" Everyone resisted the urge to fall over at this. Precious Papyrus. "I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, SHALL BE A GREAT BENEFICIAL PART OF THIS AMAZING NEW ODYSSEY! JUST YOU WAIT!"

"...so this is how it's gonna be, huh?" Sans sighed in defeat, shaking his head in utter exhaustion, and he hasn't even done anything yet. As much as he would want to keep it that way, he truly didn't have a choice this time. The alternative was to allow the multiverse to suffer irreversible damage, and that wasn't very more depression and he would be reduced to being a mere burden. That wasn't a role Sans the Skeleton wished to keep. "...alright. guess i gotta do this."

Asgore closed his eyes, thinking deeply about bad things have gotten in such a short amount of time. He could hardly believe that all of this was happening. But like it or not, he had to accept that it was indeed happening. If this is how things were going to be, then the best he could do was adjust to it accordingly, and be as helpful as he can possibly be. Asgore turned towards Toriel, who blinked slightly. "Toriel. I won't ask you to forgive me. I won't be too hung up about it. Because what matters most right now is that our son has made up his mind, and he needs our help. So I'm choosing to follow him. Will you?" Toriel looked away for a little bit, pondering. Asgore lowered his eyes a bit to try and understand. Though after a moment of contemplation, she turned and nodded silently towards him, before breaking eye contact completely.

After this, Asriel, Frisk, and Chara got into a bit of a huddle. Frisk sighed a little. "A multiverse journey...I don't know if we're totally up for that...but it still can't hurt to try. Besides, we don't have a lot of other choices, do we?" They both nodded in agreement.

"I'm done playing by some stupid script written by some pre-determined destiny. It's time that we start writing our own." Chara said strongly, their own Determination shining through.

Asriel nodded. "This odyssey is going to be long and hard...but by the end of it, we'll have our home back. So we can't allow ourselves to falter under the pressure. Ink and Frisk will show us how thinks work, then we'll be able to move out on our own. And by the time we've done what we've needed to do, we can all go back to our home Universe and live on our Surface together." Asriel nodded. "We were so close to that happy ending...only for it to be snatched away...well...I won't stand for that. We'll get it back no matter what! We have to stay determined!"

"RIGHT!"

Ink and Core watched as the group agreed in unison and began conversing with one another, prompting a small yet relievved sigh from Ink. "Boy. First he stands up to Error, and now he was able to pull everyone out of despair by briefly taking charge. Something has _definitely_ changed within Asriel. Maybe it's his new soul? Who knows?"

Core!Frisk closed their eyes a little, then slowly reopened them. "...A long and treacherous journey is ahead of them..."

 _Alphys was speaking to a version of herself wielding armor and an axe, while the latter had a scar across her eye..._

 _Papyrus was sparring with another version of himself who seemed to be wearing an orange jacket and smoking a cigarette, though he seems much more violent..._

 _Undyne gripped a spear in her hand as she glared at another vesion of herself preparing to attack her, her opponent wore a white robe and carried the aura of a god of war..._

"Many untold dangers. There are encounters to be made. Both friend...and foe."

 _Sans was standing across another version of himself, who was wearing a white jacket, wore Papyrus's scarf, and had a long gash across his chest; they seem to be at an impasse..._

 _Toriel was crying tears of rage as her paws were coated in flames, while a shorter version of herself in a black and red jacket simply smirked at her condescendingly, her paws in her pockets..._

 _Asgore roared furiously as he charged forward, his body coated in flames as he clashed powerfully wit a darker version of himself, whom was coated in black flames, and his magic was sinister..._

"They will learn new things about themselves, things they didn't understand before...whether they want to or not."

 _Frisk was staring quietly at themselves, another version of them holds the Real Knife..._

 _Chara was preparing to fight a version of themselves wearing a black robe, and was twirling a scythe over their head as they released unholy klling intent..._

 _And Asriel was gazing upwards towards another, older version of himself, paws behind his back as flames casually kept him in the air, and draconic skulls appeared on either side of him..._

Core!Frisk sighed quietly. Preparations were to be made. The Classic Universe has crashed, and is unable to be fixed on it's own...which meant that a LOT of the old rules have been thrown out the window. Which rules? Ink wondered this, as he stroked his chin bone and nodded. He'll just have to hope it works in their favor.

 _A journey is ahead of them. And this time, they have their own blank canvas to paint on, and not something pre-colored. What colors will they use? I'll be interested in finding out..._

* * *

 **And there you have it!**

 **The comrades are in agreement, the common goal has been set! Everyone has been down in the dumps, but Asriel brought them back up. Because the only way this situation is going to improve at some degree, is if they take action. And here they are, preparing to take action. Determination pushes them forward, and might also help them connect and further understanding each other better.**

 **With the Classic Universe crashed, the other AU's are at risk. They'll need their help in order to help them fix things...but they'll have to _earn_ that help. How that happens? It might be obvious, maybe not. But that was a view of what's to come. Battles! Angst! Bonding! Adventure! And...many other things that's soon to come. I've become quite comfy with the T-Rating, you see...I'll leave it at that.**

 **See ya when I see ya! When it comes to this particular story, I mean!**


	5. Can I Count On You?

**Here's our new chapter. Filled with a spar, some angst, some slight bonding, explaining the situation and what changed, and the distribution of the first mission. Sometimes you need a friend to give you a good punch to the face in order to get you motivated. Which of our friends does that, though?**

 **Take a guess.**

* * *

"So...are they _really_ just empty sockets? Empty sockets that just lead into empty space?"

Core!Frisk was spending some downtime with Asriel, as he curiously gazes into said eye sockets with curiousity. "An empty space they are. I can put small objects within them. It's a bit convenient, though I don't do it often." They responded as Asriel's eyes sparkled with fascination.

They were not going to lie-they won't really gain anything from it-they appreciated this time of serenity, as short as they knew it was. After everything Asriel and the others have been through, they thought it was good to have some downtime before they could officially begin this threatening challenge that was presenting itself before everyone. It was great that they were so fully willing to help out, but they found it best to prioritize a full recovery, as well as acquire as much information as possible on potential AU's to visit. Being asomewhat omniscient has it's perks, because they could already name a couple places to go, but Ink wanted them to be quiet about it for the time being. They accepted that there was a couple of things that needed to be checked out first, something that needed very careful research. And it's the kind of careful research that will ultimately decide how carefuly everyone needs to proceed.

They sensed it ever since the Classic Universe crashed. Something has changed, and it's certainly affected every AU out there. They weren't completely sure _how_ everything's been changed, they were just sure that change has definitely happened. Even now, they were still trying to figure out what is it about the Classic Universe crashing that has something to do with this unknown change. Given how timelines have breached and paths that shouldn't be able to be taken, have most certainly been taken. This isn't the first time that the impossiblle has been achieved. There has been many instances in which something that shouldn't have been possible, has been done on either pure willpower, or...no. The impossible things that's been achieved before...they've been achieve due to pure willpower overriding reason. In this instance, Asriel and the others have been able to do so for each others sake. And it's highly unlikely to be the last time.

Asriel has those kinds of eyes. Someone who's willing to do the impossible in order to achieve happiness for everyone. It might be why Chara couldn't bear continuing on without him.

'Frisk...are you really omniscient?" Asriel asked, another curious question popping into his head He still continued to call them Frisk, since he felt that's what they would prefer. They still feel like Frisk, so there wasn't much harm in continuing to refer to them as such. They greatly appreciated it.

Core!Frisk turned towards Asriel so they could answer. "In a sense, that is correct. The people I meet tend to be under the impression that I possess the powers of a deity. That is not the case. In fact, that''s another AU entirely." They gently shook their head. "No. Rather than me actually knowing everything, my knowledge comes from me being able to see and experience a multitude of things simultaneously." They lowered their head slightly. "Though there are times when others don't consider that to be enough. Knowledge can only go so far on it's own. You see, I'm not really strong on my own. In fact, I'm actually quite weak in physical terms."

Asriel smiled. "Despite that...you're really cool, and really strong."

Core!Frisk blinked. "Hm...? I can somewhat understand being cool. But you see me as a strong person, too?"

"Maybe you're not strong in the traditional sense. But you certainly are strong in another way." Asriel looked towards his lap, lightly rocking back and forth. "I don't know what your full story is, but I can tell that you didn't choose to be this way. Sans threw you into the Core because you wanted to experience adventure over and over, and he couldn't take it anymore. We've made plenty of selfish decisions, so there's no way I will consider muself above you in anyway. At least with you, you were trying to be positive, however selfish it might have been. Being soulless rendered me an unrepentent enemy. Hopefully I never go back to that..." Asriel shook his head. "I won't make excuses. What I've done was wrong, there's no way around it."

"Asriel. I..."

"Though despite that, you created the Omega Timeline so that survivors of destroyed timelines and genocides can have a safe haven. A haven in which no one can get hurt again. You're still trying to do the right thing for everyone's sake. And maybe there is an infinite amount of worlds out there...but despite knowing this, it doesn't stop you from trying." Asriel turned to Core!Frisk with a small smile. "That takes a lot of heart. And the Determination to keep going. I intend to stay true to that sort of path. Since you know a lot more about this than I do, and you need my power in order to progress, I really hope that we can help each other find success! We're counting on you, and you're counting on us. So let's make sure we're all worthy of this mutual trust, okay?"

Core!Frisk found themselves a bit at a loss, hearing Asriel hold them to such a positive regard. They were somewhat surprised to find themselves blushing, turning away from Asriel and smiling softly, cupping their cheeks. _Strange...it isn't like I haven't been encouraged before...but he makes it sound the most sincere...probably because he no longer has it in him to lie. At least for his own sake...and he's been through so much...I can't afford to disappoint him. Not now, with so much at stake..._

"Hey...Sans."

"hn...?"

Undyne manifested a spear within her hand, and points it in Sans' direction. This lightly caught the others attention as they wondered what Undyne might possibly be up to. Their question was immediately answered by what followed. "Fight me."

Sans raised a bone brow at the request. "now why would you go and ask me something of that nature? what are you up to, undyne?"

"Just what I said. I want you to fight me, Sans. Preferably right now."

"yeah, i heard that. i just wanna know _why_."

Undyne sighed as she shook her head, clicking her tongue. "I'm just gonna be blunt. You're much stronger than you let on, and it's something that's been on the back on my mind for a while. I wanna gauge your power and skill first-hand. I want you to take me on, and then I'll make my proper judgement." She opened her eye and glared at Sans. This glare actually made him curious, instead of intimidating him...mostly because it wasn't meant to intimidate him. There was something else behind that expression. Something deeper. Much more serious, and...something else. He couldn't properly put his finger on it, but he had a feeling that Undyne had something more to accomplish than simply fighting to gauge his skill. But what...?

"It doesn't look like she'll be taking no for an answer...oh golly..." Asgore sighed, lightly stroking his beard as he turned towards Ink. "Is it really okay for them to be doing this? I don't want to upset Frisk because their friends are fighting."

"It'll be alright. Any damage done within the Omega Timeline can easily be fixed. It's highly adaptable to what's happening within it, as well as what's being brought into it. It should be fine." Ink said as he folded his arms. There was something that Undyne knew. It might be highly important for everyone to know. Yet for some reason, she chooses to convey this by challenging Sans. It was strange, very strange. Then again, Undyne didn't completely consider herself normal. If she was choosing to do things this way, then it must be for a reason they weren't completely aware of. Nevertheless, it was obvious Undyne was not interested in a declination, and defying her would only stir up more bickering. It was best to simply do what she says and approve of her request.

With this in mind, the two monsters in question were moved to a decent location. Since the Omega Timeline was infinite, there wasn't too much worry about breaking anything around the fixed spot where everyone first gathered. Now they were sitting around the both of them right now in colorful bleachers that Ink created with his paint magic. There was also a carefully placed barrier around the two potential combatants where they had enough room to move, though there was definitely a boundary noticable to everyone. Undyne and Sans stood against one another at a fair distance.

In the colorful bleachers, Toriel had Frisk in her lap, her paws gently wrapped around their stomach as comfortably as she could make it. Asgore was holding Asriel and Chara within his arms and gazed worriedly at Undyne. Papyrus and Alphys were most concerned for Sans and Undyne respectively, being the closest to them. Undyne's rather abrupt request has them both wondering what she was thinking. Ink and Core!Frisk were standing on a floating paint platform a bit close to said barrier. The former had his arms folded with a mostly indifferent expression, while Core!Frisk looked on with their own childlike curiosity. Frisk and Chara looked at them, wondering what they know. Actually, they _know_ that Core!Frisk knew something, and they were simply looking for confirmation. That only furthers their own curiosity. Asriel was simply hoping that neither of them got seriously hurt.

Sans sighed as he scratched the back of his skull. "welp. you went through the trouble of challenging me to a fight. i know you aren't one for empty words, so you must have your reasons."

"...Chara told me something interesting. About you and me." Undyne began, her eye being overshadowed. "I'm not gonna pretend like I understand what's happened, not completely. But what I _do_ know is that the two of us were the only ones capable of picking a fight with a rampaging human. I was able to take the hits, and you constantly dodging and diminishing their energy bit by bit. i want us to compare our strengths in this battle...and no. I'm not doing this just for me. There are deeper reasons for this. But you don't need to hear them right now. I'll tell you afterwards." Undyne glared. "And another thing... _ **don't hold back**_."

 _Undyne...what are you doing...?_ Chara wondered silently to themselves.

Sans shrugged. "if that's what ya want. however, i don't want ya to end up regrettin' it."

"Fuhuhuhu...not a chance. Speaking of chances...this is a perfect one. For both of us."

"huh...?"

"Chara broke the rules in order to save Asriel, Asgore's son. My Master's son. They broke the restraints the world placed on them in order to save him...so what's to stop us from doing the same?" Undyne said slowly. Her body gained a glowing dark outline, and she clenched her fists. "The multiverse is certainly not all-joke. Error proved that much. If we're gonna survive what it throws at us...then we're gonna have to break our own limitations. Asriel unintentionally did something to us that will help us do just that. We're about to demonstrate it right here and now."

 _I did something...?_ Asriel wondered, blinking in confusion.

Undyne cracked her neck, as well as her knuckles, then manifested a white spear above her head, swiftly grabbing it as it fell into her hands. "Ready? Because here I come!"

"hn..." Sans said as he slowly raised his hand, creating a bone wall.

"I have to admit, you surely have me surprised, Sans. I always figured there was more to you than meets the eye." Undyne began a spear manifests in her hand and she tosses it towards Sans with a bit force behind it. The spear pierced through Sans' bone wall, to his slight shock. He then warped out of the way as more spears rained down on him, barely missing him by a few seconds. "You hid that hidden part of yourself behind that slacker attitude and that smile that never seems to break. At first I thought that being a wiseguy was just your nature. But I never would have thought that, while you do genuinely enjoy your immature pranks and shitty puns...they were also a cover for the suffering inside." Undyne twirled her spear in her hands and sprints towards Sans with a forceful glint in her eye.

Sans raised his hand as multiple bones emerged from the ground in an attempt to hinder her progress. Undyne did her best to jump over a majority of the bones heading her way, and using her spear to slice through some of them. When she got within range, she slashed at him horizontally, though Sans warped backwards as more bones shot up from the ground. Undyne jumped back as several of them slashed at her sides, causing her to grit her teeth and move back a couple feet. The barrage of bones continued, and she kept jumping back and slashing at the bones to keep them from attacking her too harshly. She narrowed her eyes, while Sans stayed focused on her position.

Frisk was watching the two of them fight, trying to see what Undyne's intentions were, or what she was trying to prove to them. Though as this went on, they noticed something strange, and so did Chara. The latter's eyes narrowed suspiciously. _Something's out of place here...Undyne, what do you know...?_

Sans stopped his barrage as he raised his hand again. At his command, two Gaster Blasters manifested on both sides of him, growling menacingly. Undyne wasn't intimidated, though. In fact, all she did was grin. "Hmph. You're going to take me a bit more seriously, huh? I've been wondering for a bit, how are you able to summon those things anyway?"

Sans shrugged. "i seem to have forgotten."

"Playing the wiseguy again..."

Sans shrugged again as the Gaster Blasters simultaneously fired bright beams of light in her direction. Undyne made sure to dodge them by rolling to the side, keeping a firm grip on her spear, while others manifested over her head and aimed towards Sans. The blasters fired at the spears, dissipating them while they still heading towards Undyne. She once again rolled out of the way while trying to figure out the blasters pattern. _Alright. From what I can tell, these things can't fire constantly, at least not at his current level. Each can only fire one beam until they need to cool down for at least a couple seconds._ Undyne silently nodded as she once again dodges the blasts of both blasters before she landed on her feet and raised her hand. Sans' eye sockets widened as he sidestepped to dodge the spears emerging from below him. Undyne grinned as she manifested a spear in her hand and throws it towards Sans the moment he did so. His shock deepens as he barely managed to dodge again by warping out of the way, but not before a piece of his jacket was pierced, leaving a hole within it.

Papyrus was sitting quietly, witnessing his best friend and his brother fighting against one another. Alphys was doing the same, still wondering what undyne was trying to do. Neither of them could be sure about this, just hoping that neither of them would seriously hurt each other.

 _SO, BROTHER...THIS IS HOW YOU DO BATTLE. I WONDER WHY YOU DIDN'T FEEL THE NEED TO TELL ME OF YOUR ABILITIES...? I'M SURE YOU HAVE YOUR REASONS FOR YOUR WAY OF THINKING...BUT THAT'S EXACTLY WHAT WORRIES ME SO DEEPLY._ Papyrus thought as he clutched tightly onto his scarf.

 _Undyne...is there something you're trying to prove with this? Why is it so important for you to fight Sans right here and now...? What exactly are you trying to do...and what exactly do you know...?_ Alphys silently asked as she clutched onto her lab coat silently, her tail twitching nervously. After going through several scenarios of her own, as she knew Undyne better than Sans did, her glasses shined white as a possible answer comes to mind. _Undyne...don't tell me you're...is this really the time for that kind of thing, though...?_

Asgore had his arms folded as Chara stopped sitting on his lap. They instead found it more comfortable to climb atop hs shoulders and sit there for a while. As did Asriel, who placed himself atop his head. Since he was quite physically powerful anyway, neither of these changes in position bothered him. _Undyne...as Sans said, you are not one who makes requests like these without reason. Is this perhaps an attempt to understand Sans better? I'm not entirely sure it'll be the same for him as it was for you and me. He familiar with Tori...but they've only recently seen each other face to face. Everyone's thoughts are mostly unknown due to how suddenly this change has been...everything is so strange...I'm unsure what to think of this whole situation due to what's happened._ Asgore slowly closed his eyes and sighed. he supposed he'll have to wait and see.

"I think I get it. You're the skilled one in terms of magic ability, while Papyrus has the edge on you in physical strength. Tell me, is that right?" Undyne asked as she twirled her spear around again. "I don't know why you felt the need to hide that from me. I knew you were lazy, but that's ridiculous. Someone as strong as you just lazing around doing nothing. Really, Sans."

"i have my reasons."

"I'm not saying that you don't. Still..." Undyne swiped her spear horizontally as more of them shot towards Sans, who countered with a plethora of bones. A few of them passed by her, lightly cutting her cheek. A stray spear tore right through Sans' hood, making him flinch slightly. as he sidestepped to the side. He was teleported again as another barrage of spears shot out towards him. He slowly raised his had as another pair of Gaster Blasters appeared by his sides, then an extra two above his head. All four of them fired simultaneously. Undyne narrowed her eyes as her spear began glowing brighter and sparking strongly. With a strong shout, she pushed the tip of her spear through the combined blast, gritting her teeth from the strain and heat coursing through her. She was sweating a bit from how strong the beam was. But to Sans' surprise, Undyne stepped forward, pushing herself through the beam, forcing herself to endure.

 _woah...what the hell...?!_

"I told you before we started fighting, didn't I?" Undyne said strongly, grinning as her left eye kept shooting beams, and she powered through the blast with the sharp tip of her spear. "Overcoming our own limitations is necessary in order to survive this tough adventure! That's a possibility, isn't it?! Course it is!" She thrusts her spear downwards, completely splitting the powerful beam in half. Before Sans could recover from the surprise, she manifested four different spears and launched them all at once, and they pierced through the Gaster Blasters, dissipating them instantly. They also resultted in a cloud of smoke, obscuring Sans' vision.

 _how...how is she doing this...?! she shouldn't be able to...!_

"I shouldn't be able to do that. That's what you're thinking, isn't it Sans?" Undyne said as she was rushing towards him, her eyes shadowed by her hair. "That's funny. Considering that I don't usually know what you're thinking most of the time. In fact...that's one of the biggest issues I have with you at the moment. I don't know what you're thinking, so I can't help you. Your brother can't help you. The Queen can't help you. Asgore can't help you. Alphys can't help you. You didn't bother coming to any of us about what you were truly feeling, or what you were truly going through. No. You thought it was better to just wear that fake smile of yours to reassure all of us, leaving yourself to suffer in silence..." She gritted her teeth as she clenched her right fist.

Ink Sans listened carefully to her words and heard passion begin to seep into them. _I see...that's what her deal is...oh boy. I sure don't wanna be Sans Classic right now..._

Core!Frisk was having the same thoughts, realizing that Undyne was doing this out of three powerful feelings. Anger, worry, and guilt. Even though at this moment, she has little to feel guilty for.

 _Undyne...Sans...they..._ Asriel said as understanding dawned upon him on Undyne's intentions. Or at least, a significant part of her intentions. Undyne wasn't one who took serious things like this lightly. She was always passionate about her friends. And despite the differences between herself and Sans, she _does_ care about him. Which makes who he is and what he's done very frustrating for her.

Sans was left trembling slightly as Undyne's shadow loomed over him, as she was rearing her fist back, her eyes filled with fire. "THIS IS FOR HIDING YOUR PAIN FROM US, YOU BONEHEADED JACKASS!"

The sound of fist meeting skull echoed throughout the Omega Timeline. She held back enough to not crack his skull, but that didn't stop it from hurting like hell, nor did it stop the others from wincing. Sans was sent flying back into the air, eventually landing on his back and sliding back a bit before stopping. Undyne was breathing hard as she glared hard at Sans, who's eye sockets became dark once again, and his smile became slightly strained. In the color stands, Papyrus and Alphys were most concerned for the both of them, the latter due to Sans being laid flat on his back, and the latter due to her emotional state. Frisk and Asriel looked on in shock and concern of their own. Asgore and Toriel were at a loss on what to do. Only Chara, Ink, and Core!Frisk were completely calm about this turn of events. As forceful and unnecessary as it may be...it was best to put this issue aside before it becomes a major hindrance.

Sans slowly sat upwards as Undyne approached him. He didn't move as she stopped in front of him, her shadow once again looming over him. "...even i had told you what was wrong with me...even if i did confide all of my problems into you, alphys, papyrus, toriel...would any of you had believed me?" Undyne didn't respond, her expression unchanging. "can you blame me for hiding it...? i mean, resets...loading...talking flowers...alternate timelines...would any of you had looked at me like i was sane? how am i supposed to reveal all of that stuff without making myself look crazy _and_ have you believe me?" He clenched his fists. "hell...in different timelines, i probably _did_ tell you all everything! but it didn't matter, because it would all be reset! all of my hard-earned progress, GONE! nothing i did made a difference! i can't...i can't..." He allowed his fists to unclench, and his tone slipped close to silence. "caring...hoping...those two things are hard for me to come by. and right when i thought it would all be over...i'm now stuck in this mess, where i'm not even sure we can succeed...how...how am i supposed to do this...?" He sighed as he looked at his hands. "i...i don't know if i _can_ do this..."

Papyrus could hear how tired Sans was. How hesitant he was to even try at this point. He was in uncharted territory, alternate universes. He couldn't predict what might happen, and he couldn't be sure that they'll find success in this mission. He didn't even know if things won't go back to the way they were by the time all of this was over... _if_ it ever ended. All this time, Sans was hiding all of this to himself, in order to not have anyone worry. Because when he _did_ tell them, it would all be reset. At some point, he just stopped trying to convince them, and simply kept quiet. He hid his suffering in order to keep everyone smiling...while his own smile was mostly just a mask. He tried to stay positive, he **_truly_** did...but this was the last straw. Sans was on the verge of breaking and just completely giving up. Papyrus felt like he's failed as a brother, just like Undyne felt like she's failed as a friend. Was there anything he could do to remedy the situation? Was this situation...even possible to fix?

Toriel couldn't say that she knew Sans too well, especially since they've met face to face only recently. But she always felt that something was off about him. She had to admit he was an expert at hiding his emotions. But every once in a while, she occasionally heard his voice...shift. Shift to a tone in which didn't match his laid-back nature. She had considered that he was hiding something dark and just wouldn't tell her. She had hoped she was hearing things, and that she was wrong. Now hearing this...it made her feel guilty for not being able to help him further. His reasoning for hiding his pain was understandable...

Sans' eye sockets widened as Undyne wrapped her arms around him and hugged him to her chest. He blinked a couple times in confusion as he felt Undyne put her eyepatch back on, before returning to hugging him. A cyan blush sneaked onto his cheekbones once his mind caught up to where he was being hugged. "w-w-w-w-woah...undyne...what's this about...?"

"I can't pretend like I understand what you've gone through. Nor am I gonna pretend I understand all this time-space stuff. That's out of my league. But what I can help with is how you're dealing with all of this." Undyne began as she placed he chin atop his head. "Listen to me, Sans. All this hiding, all these secrets, your fake smiles...you can't do that anymore. Now that we have nothing else to lose but ourselves...we have to do our best to kick our limitations to the curb, and surpass them. We won't be held back by what we couldn't do before. Now...now we can do so much more, we can do a lot more good for us, for everyone. But...but we have to stick together for it to work. We can't afford to fall apart here. We need to keep pushing on and getting stronger. I'm not saying that things won't get hard...but it's _because_ things will get hard that we need to put aside our differences, put aside all of our grudges, so that we can work together and regain the happy ending that was stolen from us!" Undyne said as she clutched tightly onto Sans. "That's why...that's why I felt the need to punch you hard in the face, dammit! I'm your friend! Papyrus is your brother! You can't do stuff like that, say stuff like that, and expect us to not care! I...I want to trust you, Sans. I _want_ to believe in you. But we can't do that if you don't trust and believe in us too. I **_need_** to know that we can count on you giving your all to make things right. We can't do this without you."

Sans took a moment to process what Undyne was telling him. The possible hopelessness of the situation was very noticable to her, yet she still felt the strong need to keep trying. Because if she were to give up here, then all of their efforts would be for nothing. The crashing of the Classic Universe would stay this way, leading to massive consequences. She refused to give up like that. Feeling the passion that she was emitting...Sans was sure she was just riding on pure emotion. She even admitted that she doesn't know much about what's going on, but she wasn't letting that stop her. He wished he could be as positive as she was about this. His negativity was going to bring everyone down, which is also why she felt the need to punch that out of him. Though she wanted to earn that punch, because it would leave them all better in the long run. That, and the fact that she was probably excited over fighting someone strong, as well as frustrated knowing he had this strength and never showed her. Still, her main intentions were to snap him out of his funk before it had a chance to begin slowing everyone down.

He slowly looked towards Asriel, Frisk, and Chara. Then did the same for Toriel and Asgore. Then he closed his eye sockets. _putting aside our differences AND our grudges, huh...?_ He raised his hand and gently tapped Undyne's arm. "heya...'dyne...i think...i'm gonna be alright. at least for now."

She raised an eyebrow. "You good?"

"yeah...i'm good..."

"Great!" She stood up fully as she helped him to his feet, roughly slapping his back. "And if I catch you slipping into despair again, I'll deck ya! So you'd best not slip again! FUHUHUHUHU!~"

"I guess we could all use that one friend who punches you out of your slump..." Ink said, rubbing his chin bone. "...Regardless, we're now able to move on. Everyone..did you recognize what Undyne demonstrated to us through this battle to punch some hope into Sans? Did you see anything worth noting?"

Frisk took a moment to think. What was worthy to be noted? The question plagued them for a couple moments, until they rose their head in shock and realization. "...there were no damage numbers..."

"No HP...no ATK...no DEF...none of those things appeared.' Chara said slowly. They also noted the fact that none of those mentioned stats were seen duirng their brief battle with Error Sans, either. Though given what kind of being he is, they doubt he's bound by those rules either.

"...is this what Undyne meant by surpassing our limitations...?" Asriel spoke softly, looking down at his paws. "But then...what do I have to do with it...?"

"The way your world operated was similar to rules such as those." Core!Frisk commented. "However, with the Classic Universe crashing, along with Error's threads attaching to you, as well as some of Asriel's magic post-soul empowerment...it made you all much stronger. And with the elimination of the stat system, as well as turbs becoming irrelevant and ignored, combat has become much less restrictive and much more free. With this in mind, all of your respective potentials have been unlocked, and you can get much stronger than you are now."

"An example would be Sans not going down in one blow...or Undyne not melting due to Determination. Monster bodies...they've become stronger...as well as their souls..." Asriel said slowly. He raised his paw in wonder. _And..._ _ **I**_ _did that..._ _ **I**_ _empowered them...?!_

"You're getting the gist of it!~" Ink smiled.

Core!Frisk nodded. "Precisely. However...you must be wary that this mass-empowering effect goes both ways. Since all of you are from the Classic Universe and have been affected by this empowerment, every other version of you that _aren't_ beings like Ink or Error since they're extremely powerful already, they will receive this boost as well. Maybe they won't use it as effectively as you do, or they might not even realize it. Though it does not change the fact that it's there." Core!Frisk shifted slowly towards Frisk and Chara. "One thing I did notice that might become an issue later on...certain versions of Frisk and Chara have not been affected by this. In fact, this mass-powering event seems to affect only monsters. This will make helping certain Frisks and Charas much more difficult."

"So monsters have gotten significantly stronger...but not certain versions of me and Frisk?" Chara said while stroking their chin with their remaining arm. "Monsters have gotten stronger while other versions of me and Frisk may or may not stay relatively the same...that's like putting the entire multiverse on hard mode!"

"That's one way to look at it, yes. We understand that not all universes will cooperate peacefully at first, which is why honing this new potential might be necessary, in order to stand up to something that threatens you all. Still, if you all can find a way to reduce or even prevent conflicts of that nature as swiftly as you can, that will serve greatly in your favor. Because the goal is to win other AU's over so they can help the Classic Universe recuperate. Once you establish a connection, I'll come in and explain what to do from there."

"So how do we gain the favor of these other AU's?" Toriel asks.

Ink Sans took control again. "There are three ways you can go about this. One: Help an AU complete a True Pacifist Route. And if it already has, make sure nothing tries to disrupt or destroy it. Help them out, see what you can do. Just make sure that happy ending will have absolutely NO reason to be undone. Two: Thwart a Genocide Route in progress and then do your best to repair the damage. Some AU's are very troublesome about this. If you find certain AU's that renders this impossible, I'll come get you. Not every AU has to help us, just enough to make a difference. Three:..." Ink paused, debating on whether or not to tell them the third condition. He shook his head. "The third option is highly unlikely to be presentable. But if it comes up-and trust me, _you'll know if it does_ -then you'd better be prepared to fight just in case. A situation like that...it's the only method in which an easy victory is certainly impossible."

"IS IT REALLY THAT BAD? AND WHY MUST IT BE A BATTLE? IS THE ONE WHO WE MIGHT OR MIGHT NOT DO BATTLE WITH A BAD PERSON?" Papyrus asked, raising his hand.

"It depends on the AU. Again, it's highly unlikely to happen. Just know that if it does come up, you need to be prepared to struggle. Especially if the force becomes hostile towards you."

"O-Okay...t-t-that makes some sort of sense. I-I think I've got it." Alphys nodded, twiddling her thumbs. "S-So now that we've been briefed on those things...h-how do we start? Where do we go first...?"

"I've looked into that. We decide your destination by picking an AU that's most at risk of falling into corruption,or crashing. The closest one at the moment issssss..." Ink swiped hi brush a bit as an image appeared within it. Everyone looked in as Ink raised his head and pounded one fist into another. "Underfell!"

"underfell? what kind of universe is that supposed to be?" Sans asked.

Ink tapped his cheekbone. "To save up on time, I'll summarize the main basic premise: Everyone aside from Frisk and Flowey is pretty much super edgy and mean. They're capable of kindness, but see it as a weakness instead of a strength."

"So it's a world of Tsundere versions of us?!" Alphys gasped.

"...That's not... _totally_ inaccurate..." Core!Frisk replied with a shrug. "Nevertheless, this is your first stop. Now, not all of you can go at once. In case something happens, the others have to be available for assistance. For now, the team setup for Underfell will be...Asriel, Asgore, Undyne, Sans, and Alphys. Toriel, Frisk, Chara, and Papyrus will stay here and observe with me." Core!Frisk turned to Ink Sans, who nodded and splashed more paint seemingly into nothing, until a rainbow portal was created, signifying the gateway into Underfell. "Just a warning, you all likely won't be landing in the same place. You might get scattered upon entry. Considering that this Underfell, you do NOT want to stay separated for long. Do what you must, then regroup quickly."

"understood." Sans nodded.

"We're ready!" Undyne pumped her fist and wrapped an arm around Alphys, who blushed and nodded.

"I suppose I'll see whatI can do in this new world...what difference can I make here...only time will tell." Asgore said quietly. He briefly turns to Toriel, then shook his head. He can't get distracted right now, he needed to focus.

"I...I guess I'm going first, huh? No pressure at all..." Asriel laughed nervously before turning towards Chara and Frisk. "You don't have to worry, I'll be careful."

"See that you do. You could use the experience." Chara said as they and Frisk hugged Asriel gently, before letting him go. "Good luck."

Asriel nodded to them as he stood in front of the portal, took a deep breath, then narrowed his eyes. "Okay...let's go."

"you're the boss." Sans said as Asriel stepped through the portal first. Followed by Asgore, Undyne and Alphys, and finally Sans. They all vanished as the portal closed, and Core!Frisk lowered their hand. They silently prayed for them to stay safe, before moving with Ink to discuss plans for other AU's.

Meanwhile, Toriel set Frisk down while clasping her paws, looking ot towards the portal. First with a look of indifference once Asgore stepped through...which slowly turned into concern. As much as she hated Asgore, she couldn't help but worry for his and Asriel's safety. It was so much to take in, so much to grasp...and now she had to trust that Asriel will come back to her safe and sound, with Asgore making sure it happened. It wasn't completely desirable, but she didn't protest. She trusted Core!Frisk's judgement. Besides...this left her plenty of time to think.

 _We need to put aside our differences, put aside all of our grudges, so we can work together and regain the happy ending that was stolen from us!_

"She makes that sound so easy..." She muttered. She hated Asgore for what he's done in the past...but is that hate really worth losing Asriel again? Asriel has made it clear that rejecting Asgore the way she's been doing is not going to sit well with him, especially since he feels responsbile for that ordeal in the first place. With this in mind, she slowly placed her paw against her bosom where her heart was while thinking it over, her eyes staring softly at her feet and her muzzle contorted into a conflicted frown.

 _Can I really...?_

* * *

 **After punching some positive vibes into Sans, and the others explaining how things were going to work from now on, we start with our first AU arc, Underfell. What will our team experience there? Darkness? Chaos? A couple cases of 'Ow The Edge'? Who the hell knows! Just remember...T-rating is there for a reason, folks. And not just for words...ah well!**

 **See ya then!**


	6. Entering Underfell

**Hey guys. I'm back! Know it's been a while, but like I said, I'm much more focused on the Dreemurr Chronicles than this. Though this hasn't been forgotten, not even a little bit. Because I'd really like this to continue progressing, as much as I possibly can.**

 **Now we begin with Underfell. But first, a little intro to a certain someone.**

* * *

 **{Anti-Void}**

Rage. Resentment. Indignation. Vexation. _Fury_.

None of these words can even begin to describe Error's absolute anger at the situation. Thing's that were supposed to work out well, ended up working out significantly less than well. There was no way for him to calm down, not after being cheated out of his goal in a matter such as this. He couldn't even believe that it was possible for everything to end like this. All that effort and very little to show for it. What a complete drag of truly aggravating proportions.

Error was stopped from doing his job...by the _Dreemurrs_. How could something like this even happen? It was inconceivable and almost impossible to think about. Of all the things that could have stood in his way, it had to be _them_ of all monsters. Why did it have to be them?! Because once they began opposing them to this level, he knew that they were **never** going to stop. They were stubborn, they were tough, and they were Determined. They don't give up, ever. It didn't even matter that Toriel currently discarded her last name, the fact remains that she was a Dreemuurr in blood and magic. And now all three of them were going to stand against him without a hint of hesitation. Asriel was a strong example of this intense rebellion. And once _he_ began rebelling, trying to dissuade Toriel and Asgore would be purely impossible. They be coming at him with flames of fury at every turn. And they were natural leaders as well. Everyone would be following behind them as best as they could, despite how they might possibly feel about one another. That was going to be much more trouble than it's worth.

Not only that, but he was cursed by yet another outrageous irritation. He saw it. The Omega Timeline was right there, right within his sight. He could see it there with his very eyes, It was right within his clutches...but no. _No_. **Ink** of all people had to go and interfere with his wishes. He interfered and stopped him from gaining any progress with his goal. Ink has gotten in his was many, many, _many_ times. But this case has proven to be the most ridiculous of all, and he's pretty sure that it's very unappreciated. And to further jab at his pride, the painter continues to scold him like some disobedient child instead of a legitimate threat. One of these days, Error was going to kill him. He simply could not stand his stupid face, nor his idiotic notion that AU's deserved to keep existing.

And now...now that _kid_ was spewing the same thing.

 _Our fates are_ _ **not**_ _for you to decide!_

 **"When the hell did** ** _Asriel Dreemurr_** **of all monsters, from the Classic Universe no less, gather up the guts to stand up to someone like me? Was it because Chara was in danger?"** He couldn't help but wonder. There was no understanding idiots who would go so far for someone. Especially since that certain someone has caused nothing but trouble ever since their very existence was brought up. Chara was by all means an anomaly that has been responsible for corrupting the timeline. Error did nothing wrong in the slightest, he was just there to fix the mess and set things back to the way they were. It wasn't _his_ fault that whatever happened back there happened. Ink intervened and mess everything up, as usual! And he interfered in order to protect Asriel and Chara. And had it not been for their confusion, they others might have joined in and _then_ he'd be overwhelmed. Hell, maybe they'd intervene regardless, but their main priority was helping Asriel and Chara recover, as well as protect Frisk.

Error shook his head and gazed into the Anti-Void, multiple thoughts running through his skull. Some sane, some not-so-sane. He just couldn't understand why they'd go so far to protect those three...that troublesome trio. Had they known of the troubles they've caused and the sins they bear and can never remove, they'd be thinking twice about helping those three. But Sans might have been more than aware, and yet he protected them anyway. Now that Asriel and Chara were back in their lives, Asgore and Toriel will do anything to protect them, and to keep them safe. And also like he thought before, everyone would be behind them the entire way. They would be bothersome. he currently can't do anything about it now, but he'll certainly have to keep it mind, whether they were currently a threat or not.

And yet even with all these details going through his head, he kept coming back to how they gathered around each other without hesitation. Why is that? they've lost everything. Their home is gone. And they're never getting it back. They should have just given up, it would have made things significantly less painless. So why did they feel the need to resist anyway? What drives them, really? Do they love those three brats more than they might hate the choices they've made...?

 **"...Bullshit."** Error muttered after an unknown period of time, his expression shifting into a scowl. **"Their camaraderie means nothing if it leads them down such a self-destructive path. They should have known that resisting me was a mistake...yet they jumped in front of each other anyway. They're idiots...fools. There's no point in having each other if they have nowhere to go...and for what? Defending some fluffy brat and his good-for-nothing siblling who've caused them nothing but pain and suffering? And then there's Frisk...Frisk...I thought you'd be smarter than this, at least. Guess not."** Error closed his eye sockets. **"Tch, it's not like it'll matter. Whatever they're up to, their success is close to impossible. They're in completely uncharted territory, and it's filled with untold dangers. Are those idiots really willing to be pulled down into hell with those three brats...?"** He shook his head and sighed. **"Course they would. They've made their choice, however idiotic it may be..."**

Error decided to keep himself busy. The more these thoughts persist, the more he'll irritate himself to the point of glitching out. He hated that, because it messed with his already poor vision. With this in mind, he raised his hand as a portal opened to the unknown.

 **"I might as well keep myself occupied. For now, I think I'll continue my hunt."** Error frowned as he stepped through the portal, his thoughts shifting to a skeleton in white, with _his_ scarf around his neck and a red slash across his chest. One of the rogue glitches that's never failed to avoid him. The one that always got away.

 _Keep runnin' if you'd like, ya rogue glitch. Because it doesn't matter where you hide, I WILL find you, sooner or later..._

 **{Universe: Underfell}**

Asriel eventually woke up after a rather unsettling trip through time-space. Ink _did_ warn him that the trip would be a bit bumpy, but that was incredibly uncomfortable. Stirring, groaning, and resisting the urge to vomit, Asriel stood up and shook his head, blinking his eyes a couple times and carefully taking in his surroundings. He recognized the area almost immediately. This was no doubt the Ruins. The place where Frisk came down and first began their journey through the Underground, and where they first meet Toriel, who then goes on to teach them what they need to know to traverse through the Underground. Then tried to get them to stay, but refused.

...But Asriel felt that something was different. Something felt different...something felt _wrong_.

He resisted the urge to call out for his friends and father. He didn't exactly know if other monsters were inhabiting these halls like they do in the usual universe, but the negative vibes he was getting within the Ruins prevented him from taking the unnecessary risk. The heavy negative vibes he was getting from this place also convinced him that caution was his greatest asset at the moment. The environment may seem familiar, but the feel and overall sensastion of the Ruins felt drastically different, thus trying to proceed through carelessly would quickly lead to unfortunate situations he'd much rather avoid. The first thing he had to do above all else, he had to find his way out and regroup with the others.

He prayed for their safety, then proceeded onward.

Their wasn't much that Asriel didn't know about the Ruins. He knew the Ruins like the back of his paw. Though this was a different Universe. As similiar the layout may be, it's the inhabitants he had to watch out for, as they wouldn't be as predictable. He quietly notes this important fact in his mind as he moves through the halls, peeking around the corner every now and then before proceeding onward. Though he would notice, the more he proceeded, the more curious he became as he noticed the lack of monsters around, and wondered where they were.

Before his mind went to the worst possible scenario, he had to remind himself that there was not a speck of monster dust to be found anywhere, so they weren't dead. But still, he was becoming worried about the lack of noise. Which was highly ironic, because what he was trying to do was _avoid_ as much detection as possible, and this only made things easier for him to traverse through the halls unopposed. So this is what that strange feeling was like. One expects a challenge yet doesn't see it, nor want it. It's a difficult sensation to put into deeper detail, bgut it was definitely there and something he didn't fully trust. He guessed that his times as Flowey is putting him off a little, because he was freed from that tormenting fate and didn't have enough time to adjust to not being Flowey anymore. Maybe a bit more time is all he needed, then he'll adjust properly. Though even besides that, there was one more concnern that plagued his mind.

He didn't see Frisk anywhere so far. To be more precise, he has't seen this universe's version of Frisk. If he gussed, they were somewhere close to Toriel. Anywhere close to Toriel was the safest place anyone could be, for a majority of reasons. Still, he also didn't know what this universe's version of Toriel was capable of, so he would definitely have to be careful.

Soon the dark sensation intensifies, and he felt a small shiver. He had a pretty good reason why, as he could see Toriel's house up ahead. The next thing he felt was strange. That darkn feeling was still there, yet he could still sense that motherly warmth in the air. Having those two things so close together could only spell trouble if he didn't maintain his caution.

"RIbbit!" Asriel nearly jumped as he turned around to see a menacing version of Froggit...yet he also looked absolutely terrified. "Ribbit ribbit!"(Turn backk, kid! Turn back! The witch lives there! WItch Toriel lives there! She'll burn you until there's absolutely nothing left of you! TURN BACK! TURN BACK!) With this, the Froggit hopped away with panicked croaking. Asriel didn't fully understand what he said, but he had a good enough idea. Toriel was definitely bad news around here. However, he had to pass through her house in order to exit the Ruins. Besides, he had to recruit her, as well as find Frisk.

With a deep breath, he mentally prepared himself and opened the door as slowly as he could, peeking around the living room...and blinked once he saw no one in the living room. He was still understandably cautious, opening the door and closing it behind him as he slowly moved forward. Things were going well so far. Which is why he was more on guard than ever. He can't afford to rest easy until he was sure that things would be fine. Though he was unnerved by the scorch marks that seemed to decorate the walls and floors, as well as a slightly fresh scent of blood. This wasn't too long ago, which confirmed that Frisk has already left. At least he hoped so. Though they obviously didn't leave without resistance.

"...Here we go again..."

"H-Huh?!" Asriel's gaze turned towards the hallway. It was the Toriel of this AU.

Instead of the usual robes, her robes were jet black and the Delta Rune Symbol was on her chest, but blood red instead of white. She wore a red scarf around her neck, which she was clinging to quite tightly with one paw. Her eyes were yellow and red, piercing, yet they lacked warmth. They looked like they've been through a lot of pain, not unlike his version of his mother. And by the looks of those eyes being slightly puffy, and the stained lines on her cheeks, it seems as though she's been...crying.

"This always happens. It never fails." She continued. Her voice was laced with anger and disappointment, but mostly despair. "I don't understand what I do wrong. I know that I cared for them enough...I know that I had all that I needed in order to care for them...I had food, warmth, good books, and plenty of fairness. Sure, I may have been...hard...on them, but that's only because I loved them!" She clenched her fist. "But even despite that...even despite knowing that I'd never let any of them get here...even when they know that this is the safest place in the Underground...they STILL choose to betray me and leave! I watched them go, fully knowing that they were going to die...but I could not do anything to stop it. I know they all perished. No human will survive down here for long...it's impossible."

"...?"

"...I really wanted this one to work out...I really wanted this one to stay. I felt something special about them, something very special. I wanted that special one all to myself, where no one can damage them and taint them. And yet they too, left me behind. I tried my hardest to get them to reconsider, to make them stay. I even resorted to brute force...but they convinced me to let them go. And so here I am...alone again...here I am...doomed to suffer alone in this hellhole..." She clenched her fists even tighter, and they were soon coated with flames, making Asriel jump back in surprise. "And then there's _YOU_. You're in my dreams...in my nightmares...in my daydreams...in my daymares...it gets REALLY irritating after a thousand times! I'm sick of that face mocking me everywhere I go, taunting me for my weakness, taunting me for my failures! Taunting me on my cowardice! I grow tired of it! My patience for seeing your face has grown thin!"

"W-What?!" Asriel had several deductions on what she was talking about, but he was further shocked by Toriel's mentioning of her inner mental torment. It sounded immense, harsh, and cruel.

"I've had enough. I grow weary of seeing your face everywhere! You're dead! Kindly stop haunting me _**AND STAY THAT WAY!**_ " With this, her flames grew more intense as she threw one of her fireballs towards Asriel. he gasped and moved to the side, narrowly avoiding it.

"W-Wait! Toriel!"

"Silence!" She shouted as she threw yet another fireball, which Asriel once again narrowly dodged by rolling to the side.

"Stop! This isn't necessary!"

"Your words are meaningless! You are merely a phantasm! An illusion! A piece of my crumbling mind that's trying to break the rest of my spirit! Well it shall not work! I will burn you away, and you will not torment me again! I will incinerate you where you stand, you vile phantom!" Toriel gathered a much larger fireball in her paws, and pushed it towards him with intense aggression. Asriel's eyes widened as this one was much faster than the others. Though he quickly shook his head and held his paw outward. He felt the fireball impact his paw, and he clutched onto it. Instantly, the fireball shattered into pieces like broken glass, harmlessly dissipating into nothing. Toriel blinked owlishly, in enough disbelief for her to lose all of her anger for a moment and tilted her head to he side, completely lost. "...huh?" The baffled look on her face was absolutely adorable, but that was not a significant subject right now.

Asriel huffed a bit, slightly shaken buy how close it was. He shook his head and tried again. "Toriel! Please listen to me! I'm not an illusion!"

"That is odd...phantasms are not supposed to be capable of deflecting my flames like that..." Toriel wondered, seemingly ignoring the boy's words. She stood up straight and regained her composure. "Regardless, I shall not waste any more time on you. I wasted enough already. If you cannot leave me to my solitude in peace, then i will incinerate you down to your very soul."

Asriel didn't like the sound of that. He shook his head rapidly. "Please, listen to what I have to say!"

Alas, she did no such thing. Instead, she closed her eyes and began to chant: _"One of the mighty elements of the known world...the first light that pierced the darkness..."_ A ring of fire slowly surrounds her. _"The light who's presence can impart pain and suffering...and who's power can destroy anything that stands against it...it can take life as easily as it can give..."_ The ring of fire grows even fiercer. _"It is fierce...it is hungry...it is cruel. I call upon flame's power to serve as my executioner! Manifest thyself and smite this fool who stands against me! Destroy him, burn him until nothing remains!"_

The flames before him got even more intense than before, and he had to jum back to avoid something completely coated in flames, which began turning blue to emphasize how intense they were getting. His eyes widened as he sees a paw emerge out from the flames. It looked a lot like a wolf of some sort. A wolf with up to three heads. He might have heard of that before, but he didn't have enough time to think about it. He backed away as a paw swiped at him again, and he was barely cut by one of the claws, slashed at his arm. Though the pain was searing and nearly caused him to yelp. Asriel stood back as the creature stood before him, roaring powerfully towards him as Toriel looks on with a calm, psychotic smile as her robes fluttered with the flames. Her things and herself haven't been burned by the flames at all. Only Asriel.

"Be careful not to get scorched by those flames! They're comparable to the flames of hell!~"

"What?!" Asriel shouted, only to barely dodge again as a paw from the creature slammed down towards where he used to be a few seconds ago. Asriel didn't wish to fight her, so he chose to do something else: Flee. Asriel jumped over the stairwell and made his way down, a blue fireball narrowly missing the top of his head.

He was now beginning to understand why he was told to stay away, but he still didn't expect anything like that. Those flames are significantly stronger than his Toriel was able to conjure, even though they really should have been about the same. How was she able to-

 _No HP...no ATK...no DEF...none of those things appeared._

 _Chara broke the rules in order to save Asriel, Asgore's son. My Master's son. They broke the restraints the world placed on them in order to save him...so what's to stop us from doing the same?_

 _The way your world operated was similar to rules such as those. However, with the Classic Universe crashing, along with Error's threads attaching to you, as well as some of Asriel's magic post-soul empowerment...it made you all much stronger. And with the elimination of the stat system, as well as becoming irrelevant and ignored, combat has become much less restrictive and much more free. With this in mind, all of your respective potentials have been unlocked, and you can get much stronger than you are now._

 _However...you must remember that this mass-empowering event goes both ways._

After briefly and mentally slapping himself for forgetting something so important, Asriel looked behind him to see that the creature was still chasing him down, and Toriel was right by it's side, both of them throwing a flurry of fireballs towards him. Due to his extra reflexes gained from his custom soul, he was skilled enogh to dodge a majority of them, until he was struck in the back with a blue fireball, making him yelp and fall to the ground. He turned to see the creature following him, with Toriel watching on sadistically. The creature oared as it reared it's paw back and swiped at him. Asriel was knocked aside, shouting hin pain as the flames managed to burn him once again, smashing him into the wall and landing on his side. He groaned and tried to stand and flee, one ppaw on the wall and the other holding his side.

This was getting bad really quickly. If he didn't find a way to tame those flames and get through to Toriel, he was going to die without even leaving the Ruins. That mustn't be allowed to happen. His own father was in this world , and there was no way of knowing what he would do if he found out that his son had perished again. He looked around and noticed many other monsters running away in terror. He forced himself to jump as another ball of flames was launched at him, though the resulting explosion made him rocket forward and slame into the door leading to the exit, once again groaning in pain and fearing he might not survive.

 _...No._ Asriel shook his head and began forcing himself to stand up. There was no way that he was going to go down like this, especially since he didn't even move through the exit yet.

Toriel watched on with a raised eyebrow. "Tch. You still plan on resisting."

 _I can't let things end here...not when I just started..._ Asriel thought as he hurriedly wiped his tears away, tears that resulted from feeling the severe sensation of the burns. _Crying isn't going tp save you here, Asriel. Frisk and Chara, as well as the others...they're counting on me. I had a feeling something like this would happen, and yet here I am now, quivering. I can't do that, even if they are a different version of the ones I love._ Asriel stood up straight, stumbling slightly. _I..need to be strong! For them! No matter what, I have to be strong for them if we're going to get through this crisis and save everyone! That's the basics of what Undyne and I said, so I have to follow through!_

"I grow weary of this. Destroy the phantasm!" Toriel shouted, thrusting her paw outward.

Her fiery golem roars as it leaps towards Asriel, all of it's fiery jaws intent on tearing him apart. Asriel didn't move for moment. But right before the golem reached him, he thrusted his own paw outwaard, which began coating itself in lighting. The lightning attack increased greatly in power, and it took apart the fire golem, bursting into multiple flames that slowly dissipated, losing their intense heat. Asriel panted heavily, as his paw was badly burnt, but he was glad to have dispersed with the golem. He raised his head to see Toriel, who huffed, unimpressed.

"I suppose you expected me to be shocked. Simple-Minded fool, you have no idea what else I can do." She says as she slowly raised her paws, coating more blue flames around her. "I will destroy you, you wretched phantasm!"

Asriel would allow her to do no such thing. He ran towards her as quickly as he could. Toriel raised her paws and readied herself for a close-range atack. Asriel then leapt at her and did the last thing she expected.

...Hug her.

She was in utter disbelief, watching as the 'phantasm' wrapped his arms around her waist and hugged her as tightly as he could. She was so caught off-guard that her flames even disappeared as she tried to process what was going on. None of the phantasms ever did this. They mocked her and ridiculed her for her failures, taunted her and showed disgust for her weaknesses. She really should have guessed, since the phantasms of the past were unable to fight back. Blinking slowly, her anger gone and replaced with confusion, she had to ask.

"Who...who are you...?"

"...Someone who's really sorry." Asriel muffled softly. "You've been in a lot of a pain because of me...so much that your mind is tearing itself apart in an attempt to cope. You have been tormenting yourself for your supposed weakness for so long that you don't even realize how much you need help. Frisk must have asked you to come with them, didn't they?" He could feel Toriel shaking slightly. "...I'm not from this world. It's identical to my own, but it's much darker and gloomier. I haven't even made it out of the Ruins and I know that this is a key trait of this world. However...even if the world is this full of gloom and despair...it doesn't lack hope. I know that you felt hope when Frisk came to you. That's why they felt special to you. You felt as though they can break the curse placed on this world, and find a way to make everyone happy. I want to be able to do that too. And I know you do as well." Asriel looked up toward's her face, which was brimming with tears. 'Toriel...come with me. Come with me, and we can protect Frisk together."

Toriel's face was pained, and filled with loneliness, her tears dropping on Asriel's face slightly. "...But...but they might already be dead...I don't even know how they'll survive. This world...it goes by the motto 'Kill or Be Killed'. That's the rule of this world that doesn't even need to be spoken by King Asgore. It just is..."

Asriel narrowed his eyes and stepped back a few feet. He raised a paw and then clenched it. "I'm sick of that motto, 'Kill or Be Killed'. If this world really goes by those rules, then I have no choice but to shatter that illusion apart!" Toriel's eyes briefly flashed with recognition as Asriel's eyes were filled with fire. She felt that familiar fire before, in her son. There's no mistake. Her son was rowdy, undisciplined, rude, and even immensely obnoxious...but everyone was always able to tell that his heart was ultimately in the right place, regardless of how he dislayed himself.

This Asriel was much nicer and pleasant, but the warmth was he same. There was no mistaking it. This was definitely her son, even if he's from a different world. Because despite how unruly her son tended to be, he still loved everyone. And this was definitely something he'd say if he was getting passionate enough.

Asriel felt relief when Toriel bends down on one knee and hugged Asriel tightly, nuzzling the side of his head. "...Tell me...what are you doing here...?"

 **(Snowdin)**

Toriel and Asriel soon left the Ruins, the former still wearing her scarf and the latter's wounds and burns having fully healed from her care. She closed the dor behind her and held Asriel's paw as they slowly progressed away from the door that kept her sealed away from the world...now she was confronting the world after persuasion from her son from an alternate world.

"...Alternate universes..." She muttered, after Asriel had explained himself and his motives to her. "And you need our help in order to keep it from falling it apart. And one way to do this is to make sure that the Barrier falls and every monster gets out of the Underground alive...and achieve peace with the humans."

"That's right. Unfortunately, that latter part is something you'll have to achieve on your own. Because we have many other worlds to go to after this one." Asriel nodded. "We're trying to save our own Universe by helping as many of the other ones as possible. Though I don't fully know how it works yet, I trust the ones who did their best to explain it to me and the others. We want everyone to get out of this alive, as much as we possibly can. I know it won't be easy, but we still have to try!"

Toriel eyed her alternate son for a moment, then she shook her head and chuckled softly. "You are one strange child...but that makes since. You're a lot like my son, despite how unruly and disrespectful he was."

"But you still loved him."

"With all my heart."

"Then you know that no matter what he said, he loved you and his people, right?"

"...Yes. I do suppose so..." Soon enough, they approached the bridge that...actually looked pretty menacing. It had spikes all over, and swinging spiked balls, as well as spinning maces...all in which were incinerated in a nanosecond by Toriel. "We have no time for such nonsense. We must find Frisk."

"Right." Asriel nodded, as they both proceeded past the bridge and into new-at least in Toriel's case-territory. But before they could progress further, they heard a deep, menacing voice behind them.

 **"...huh. will ya look at that. you finally managed to walk outta your safezone. and it appears you've gotten help from someone who looks a lot like you."**

"That voice...it's so familiar..." Toriel narrowed her eyes, hugging Asriel closer to her and looking around. "Come out and show yourself!"

 **"alright. if ya _really_ think i should..."**

Toriel gasped. The presence definitely made itself known, but not in the way she expected. She felt herself being rudely groped from behind.

She let the person know _exactly_ how much she appreciated that.

Letting go of Asriel, she clenched her fist, swiftly turned around and rammed her fist into the person's face, sending them flying right through a tree. She was gritting her teeth and a vein was pulsing from her head. Asriel guessed she applied heat to the fist, because it was steaming slightly. She also closed her eyes, in which the right one was twitching irritably. "You must be very brave or very foolish..placing your hands upon me in such a manner..."

Asriel watched as the person stood up, groaning in pain. This was definitely Sans...but different. Like Toriel, he had a much darker aura around him, and wore different clothes. A darker jacket, with extra fluff. Red and yellow sneakers. A golden tooth. And blood red eyes. The took the time to adjust himself and grinned. "aw c'mon. ya can't expect me to _not_ be curious. you describe yourself as somewhat of an old hag, yet time has been very kind for you. as such, i saw an opportunity...and _grabbed it_. hehe~"

Toriel smiled sweetly. Though Asriel could tell that the dark intent radiating off of her gave him a completely different reading. "...My child...you say that all of the monsters have to leave the Underground alive...is that right...?"

"Um...yes."

"Ah. Very good. Then I just have to not kill him." This was followed by the cracking of knuckles. "Close your eyes, my child. This ruffian seems to be lacking in discipline and self-control."

Sans frowned. "hey! i've got plenty of self-control! ya have no idea-" His words died out as Toriel stood above him, still cracking her knuckles as her body was steaming. The light in his eyes died and he grinned uneasily, sweating bullets. "u-uh...why are ya makin' such an angry face...? i was just messin' around! hehe...heh..."

"Yes. Indeed you were." She slowly separated her paws as they lit on fire, her smile stretching into a sadistic grin. "Allow me to show you how _**I**_ have my fun..."

Asriel visibly flinched at what happened next, covering his eyes with his floppy ears, feeling awfully sorry for the alternate Sans. At the very least, Asriel managed to win Toriel over. Now he just wondered where the others could be, and how they were doing.

 **(Waterfall)**

For some reason, Classic Sans felt like slapping himself for doing something close to suicidal. Which was strange, because he just woke up, thus hasn't really done anything worth being scolded for. As such, he stood up slowly and looked at his surroundings. By the looks of it, he's been dropped off at Waterfall, and he had no idea where the others were. Guess it was right that they wouldn't all land in the same place. It can't be helped, it was their first try.

Welp, as much as Sans would _love_ to sit there and do nothing, he really can't afford it this time. So with great reluctance, he sighed as he stood up on his feet, rubbing his neck.

"geez...start me off on my own, won't ya...that's really nice. now i just gotta find out what to do from here..."

"No way...there's no way that's Smiley Trashbag!"

Sans swiftly turned around at the sound of the voice behind him. As he suspected, Flowey was right behind him. However...he greatly lacked the sadistic aura that Flowey he used to know carried him everywhere. And he was in a flowey pot, sitting atop Frisk's head. A Frisk with a red and black striped shirt instead of purple and blue. After a moment of collecting themselves, they spoke.

"You...you look like Sans...but you're completely different. Who are you?"

"INDEED." A loud voice echoed through the area, and Sans was surprised to see who it was. Papyrus was slowly leaving approaching the three of them with his arms behind his back and a steeled crimson glare towards Sans. "I WONDER AS WELL...WHY DO YOU LOOK SO MUCH LIKE MY BROTHER?" Sans guessed that this was an alternate version of Papyrus, given the increased amount of black and red, and actually lookng like a battle body. He still thought that his Papyrus's battle body was better.

Sans thought about how to answer. He thought about the situation he was in, the risk he was placed in, and how to properly approach it with extreme caution and precision. If there was anything that Sans made sure he was, was prepared to respond to anything and everything.

Papyrus slowly raised his hand...and a Gaster Blaster with a much more menacing aura around it suddenly manifested, and began charging with red energy. "IF I DO NOT LIKE YOUR ANSWER, THEN YOU WILL BE OBLITERATED. SIMPLE AS THAT."

...However, he wasn't prepared enough to respond to _this_.

 _welp. i'm off to a greeeeeaaaaat start..._

* * *

 **Yep, Asriel and Sans are off to a great start. Though I wonder, where may the other three be? Probably having not to good a time, but...bah. I'm sure they can handle it.**

 **...Maybe.**

 **Hopefully.**

 **...They're fiiiiiiiiinnnnneeee.~ *Tries not to look worried...***


	7. Cautious Progression

**Hey guys, look! My hiatus for this particular story is finally over!**

 **...Hah...**

 **Don't be too upset with me, I told you that I would mainly be focused on my main story instead of this one. But I'm definitely going to keep updating this. The world of Underfell can be a dark place, and not everyone can be trusted to be friendly. However...that does not mean all of them enjoy being the bad guy. The difficult part is telling who's bad and who isn't...**

 **Let's begin!**

* * *

 **{Universe: Underfell}**

Asriel had his head tilted in strange fascination after the quarrel ended sooner than he thought. He was sitting comfortably on Fell!Toriel's lap, who was clearly irritated as she looked like she was trying to burn a whole through Fell!Sans skull. Considering that she wields powerful fire magic, she very well could if Asriel hadn't pleaded her to spare him. There was still steam emitting from her ears as she had her paws around Asriel's middle, a tick mark pulsing from her head. Asriel fascination came from the fact that magic skeletons _can_ gain bruises and bumps despite being...well...skeletons. Turns out punching with magical fire fists and punching with regular fists can make quite the difference. Though the outcome would be the same, Fell!Sans received a beat-down. Asriel didn't watch, as his mother requested, but also heard and felt how savage Toriel was with it. Indeed, she gave this Sans a rather savage beatdown that would most likely keep him on his toes around her.

"ugh...i was just...playin' around...ya crazy witch..."

"Joking around and actually touching me are two different things. You should be grateful I didn't do worse, you pathetic worm." Toriel hissed. She then returned her attention to Toriel and briefly kissed the top of his head, calming down considerably as a result. "Are you alright, my child? I'm sorry I snapped like that. I'm usually in more control than that." Sans resited the urge to scoff at the notion, less he take another severe physical beatdown.

"It's okay, Mom...it's fine." Asriel shook his head, dismissing her concern to ease her worry. It was rather strange to call a different version of his mother still as his mother. It just came naturally to him. And judging by how much her eyes lit up every time he said so, she really needed this experience to keep herself in check. He wants to do better for her, so she can do better for herself. He can't expect her to improve overnight when he leaves this universe, but he should at least give her a viable and comfortable starting point.

Sans rubbed his skull slightly, groaning in pain. "dammit...anyway, what's the deal here? why did ya finally decide to leave your little sanctuary, lady?"

"I was persuaded to do so, for the greater good." Toriel admitted, staring at her alternate son in her lap. "I'm not going to pretend to understand what my son is talking about. But what I do understand is that he needs me in order to complete his objective. And I'm more than happy to help my beloved son in order for him to do so." To be honest, she was absolutely estatic at having her son in her arms again, even if he was simply an alternate version of him. It changes nothing, he was still her son one way or another. "Be lucky that he needs you as well, you pathetic skeleton. His intervention, as well as the company you constantly offer me behind the door, are the only two reasons why I haven't done worse to you."

"yeah yeah, i get it. your boy is more important than me. believe me, i get it." Sans waved his arm dismissively with a yawn. Then he narrowed his eye sockets and suddenly got serious. "let's get down to business, though. yo, prince." He pointed towards Asriel lazily. Toriel began to growl at his tone, but Asriel gently patted her arm to calm her down, and she reluctantly does so. "it's obvious that you're not from this world. i sensed a temporal-spatial disortion this morning, and it wasn't from a load, save, or a reset. which means somethin' serious is goin' on, doesn't it? the kid and the weed sensed ot too, so it's gotta be somethin big if it has them worried."

Asriel nodded. "Yes. This is serious. I don't want to keep anything from you, because you're the one who will most likely best understand this, Sans. There's something really bad going down, and I need you and Mom's help in order to manage it."

"that so? well if ya don't want to keep anythin' from me, how about ya give me the basic short rundown of the situation, eh?" Sans requested. Asriel sighed and nodded in agreement, while his mother had a comical question mark floating over her head. Asriel had already explained the situation to her, but it still filled her with great confusion. That was alright, Asriel didn't completely understand it either. Asriel did his best to explain the situation to Sans as well, and to Toriel's respect, he paid very close attention, his grin turning into a focused frown. When Asriel eventually finished, Sans took a moment to absorb all of the information. His eye sockets lost their light as he stared downward at his sneakers. "...damn. multiverse destruction is what we're dealin' with? that's gotta suck. so what are we supposed to do about it?"

"Try to achieve temporal-spatial stabilization by achieving a Pacifist Run in other AU's, and make sure it can never be undone again." Asriel expalined. "Basically, in order to save the multiverse, we have to save everyone within their universes, and bring happiness to them all."

"you're not bluffin'. the best way to do this is to achieve a happy ending for as many au's as possible?" Sans said while stroking his bony chin. He sighed as he got up with his hands in his pockets. "well crud. i don't really favor gettin' erased, so i guess i gotta lend you guys a hand, don't i?" He shrugged while grinning just slightly. "so...where's the rest of your party? there's no way you came here by yourself."

Asriel blinked. "Oh yeah. I came here with Classic you, Undyne, Alphys, and Dad. But we got seperated upon entry to this universe...so things might get difficult when it comes to looking for them. I should do so as soon as possible. Mom?"

"Of course." Toriel nodded as she sits up and sets Asriel down, before grabbing his paw. "Alright Sans, do you have a suggestion for our direction?"

"first of all, that's a pretty good rhyme. second of all, yes I do." Sans nodded as he pointed forward. "the best way is to just proceed onward towards waterfall and see if one of your pals landed there. though papyrus wandered off there for extra patrols. you'd better hope that he didn't find any of them...he's not exactly one to ask questions first when it comes to intruders..."

 **(Waterfall)**

Classic Sans was staring on the other end of a Gaster Blaster, sweating in a large panic and trying to make sense of what was going on. This version of Papyrus was attempting the same thing...though it was through an interrogation that he'd rather not be a part of, since there was a high risk of disintergation. That would really suck when his mission literally just started. It really wouldn't help everyone if he went and died when he just started, so he really wanted to make sure that he didn't die, especially at the hands of his alternate brother. That would be incredibly awkward...not to mention really difficult to break to his Papyrus.

He noticed that this world's Frisk suddenly shifted in front of him, holding their hands out in front of him and shaking their head fiercely. At first, Sans was rather glad that someone placed themselves in-between himself and the incredibly sinister-looking Gaster Blaster and it's gaping maw. Though then he cursed himself for being so willing to place Frisk in danger just so he can get out of immediate danger. This wasn't something his soul would feel good about doing. He wanted to get out of this situation wihout having to fight Papyrus or endanger Frisk, so his only safe option would be to flee as soon as possible. But...

"Papyrus, stop!" Frisk shook their head with their arms out, while Flowey repeated the action via vines. "Don't hurt him!'

"HUMAN, YOU'RE GETTING IN THE WAY OF MY TARGET, THAT'S GOING TO MAKE THINGS PROBLEMATIC." Papyrus stated with a raised bonebrow towards Frisk.

"Papyrus, you can't just threaten someone like that without giving them a chance to collect themselves! I can tell he has no idea what's going on given how he's looking at us with confusion! He needs time to get up and collect his thoughts before you can even start interrogating him in that sort of way. Actually, I prefer you not threaten him at all, especially since he looks a lot like Sans!"

"SO? I THREATEN SANS ALL OF THE TIME."

"That doesn't justify things at all!" Flowey exclaimed irritably.

Frisk shook their head again. "Papyrus, I'm going to have to ask you to put away the Gaster Blaster and give him a chance to collect himself." Papyrus looked a bit puzzled by Frisk's request. THough the frown growing on their face ultmately made him bac out completely, as he allows the Gaster Blaster to dissipate. Sans sighed as the immediate danger to his life has gone away. It would have been a bit problematic if he had to flee on sigh from someone that could help him. Frisk then turned towards Sans and helped him up. "Sorry about Papyrus, he's still learning about the values of a friendly welcome, and that welcome wasn't very friendly at all."

"Now down to the important bits of this conversation...who are you? Why do you look so much like Sans, and are you here to hurt us?" Flowey narrowed his eyes as he shifted to a frightening face and his vines gained thorns. "If you're here to hurt this kid, I swear I'll **_tear you apart_**." Normally Sans wouldn't be afraid of the small plant, even from his own universe. However, something about the way the plant was seriously threatening him in order to keep Frisk safe, and to protect him overall..it somehow made the plant much more terrifying. Sans actually had a chill on his spine from how deadly serious Flowey was with his threat.

"Be nice, Flowey." Frisk patted his petals slightly, still focused on the Sans before him.

Sans relaxed slightly, taking in the surprising detail that this world's Flowey seems awfully protective of Frisk, very much unlike his world's Flowey when Asriel didn't have a soul. He stands back up on his feet and placed his hands in his pockets. He wondered what he should do next. So far, he hasn't even said a single word, which wouldn't really do well when it came to his objective. He reaally wouldn't make any progres lying about why he was here, so he might as well start with the truth and hope that he gets lucky.

"uh...yeah. i'll tell you who i am. i am definitely a sans. you might even refer to me as classic sans." He could practically see the question mark popping up on the trio's heads. He sighed softly. This was only going to get more and more difficult to explain if he didn't go into deeper detail. He scratched his skull slightly as he tried to find some way to do this without getting the inevitable skeptical looks from his audience. He needed to get out of the habit of keeping secrets from others if he and his loved ones were to make any progress. But even past that, he would need a bit of help. "um...i'm from a different universe entirely. and i'm here with several friends of my own to help you on your journey."

 _wow. i **really** suck at this. _

Frisk gave Sans a few lookovers with curiosity. And after a while, they nodded softly. "Okay."

"WAIT WHAT?!" Flowey and Papyrus shouted in unison, disbelief striking them hard.

"wait what?" Sans blinked in surprise. He didn't expect that to be so easy.

"FRISK, HOW CAN YOU BE SO SURE THAT THIS SANS-LOOK ALIKE IS BEING TRUTHFUL? WHAT ABOUT HIM ALLOWED HIM TO CONVINCE YOU OF THIS TRUTH SO EASILY?"

"Frisk, I constantly need to pray for your safety because of how naive you can get. How can you immediately trust what he's sayng?" Flowe asked. In all honesty, Sans couldn't blame them. They were both being rather rough about it, but they were deeply concerned about Frisk's safety. So of course he understands their skeptical outlook towards him. They already have one Sans taking up their patience, they most likely aren't very welcoming of another one. But...

"It's easy. It's far too fantastic to be a lie, so it must be the truth!" Frisk replied easily. Flowey and Papyrus sweatdropped at this. Sans joined in on it, sighing.

 _yeah. this is a frisk, alright..._

 **(Later...)**

"this universe definitely feels a lot darker than my own. can you perhaps tell me more about it?" Sans requested. Ink has already given him the basic idea, but he could get a lot more from one of it's inhabitants in order to receive more details.

Frisk nodded, as Flowey still stared intently at Sans, looking more like a guard dog than a cute little flower. He was watching him with eyes that'll make a hawk proud. As for Papyrus, he was waiting outside waiting for them, as this was a subject he wasn't interested in, nor would he entirely understand. "I don't know how your universe works, but this one surely works differently. As you can already tell, this world fully embraces the 'Kill or Be Killed' philosophy, and it's one I strongly disagree with it." Sans already knew that, that's one thing his Frisk had in common with this one. "I've been working really ahrd to get everyone to realize that they didn't _have_ to live this I had to leave Mama behind since I couldn't get her to come with me. I at least proved that I could handle myself, but I really wanted her to come with me." Frisk sighed softly while shaking their head. They raised it and continued speaking. "Then I ran intoo Sans with Flowey by my side. We tried to shake hands...he had a joy buzzer in it. It hurt a lot."

"I threw him into a tree after that." Flowey huffed.

"After I recovered, I met Papyrus and Undyne. They both tried even harder to kill me, but I managed to get around them for a bit, then I befriended them both. Undyne was a much more difficult case since she was really, _really_ , **_really_** determined to take my soul. But she respected that I was even more determined to proceed and be her friend. Though she also declared herself my best friend, and her rival. Thoug we became friends overall, so I don't really mind that much. I also managed to get past Hotlands and befriend Alphys, who's kind of a mad scientist but is actually much nicer than she appears. THough her robot Mettaon...he's a bit less nice. He's a bit of an extreme showboat, but he's still pretty nice. Then I've seen Sans again..." Frisk lowered their head again, causing Sans to raise a bonebrow. "Sans...he..."

"what is it, kid? what did this universe's me do to you?" Sans asked, narrowing his eye sockets slightly. Flowey narrowed his eyes tightly and gritted his teeth. Sans was growing slightly worried for Frisk, and was about to ask once again. Though he was surprised when Frisk raised their head and shook it in denial.

"It's nothing, don't worry about it. If you're really here to help me gain the happy ending of this universe, then I guess I should just help you help me out on my journey, right?" Frisk smiles gently towards him, trying to reassure the alternate Sans. Sans wasn't convinced, easily able to tell that Frisk was straining their smile. That, and Flowey was looking angry about what Frisk was very close to mentioning something about this universe's Sans. However, he really didn't want to force them to talk if they didn't want to. The last thing that he wanted to happen was for Frisk to shut themselves down because he was trying too hard to get answers.

Sans sighed, scratching his skull with a sigh. "whatever you say kid. i really am here to help ya, i don't wanna stress ya out or anything like that. ya can trust me." He said as Frisk smiles towards him again. _i have a feelin' i'm gonna get upset with whatever this universe's me was responsible for...but i can worry about that later. helping this frisk progress is all that matters right now._ "so lemme just see if i got this right. frisk has already cleared most of a pacifist route, though somethin's been stopping them from completing it in it's entirety. maybe i can help ya through that or somethin'?" Sans hated going into things blind, but he had to accept that he was at an disadvantage. The best he could do was adapt along the way however he could. He was brought out of his thoughts as something else crossed his mind. _wait a minute...i landed here in waterfall.d i have no idea where everyone else is. crud. i gotta hope that we can all meet up sooner rather than later. the disadvantage we're at is even bigger if we're separated for too long..._

As he was thinking about this important detail, he was caught off-guard by Papyrus calling something out rather loudly that greatly surprised them. "THERE YOU ARE, YOU MISERABLE SLOB OF A BROTHER! YOU HAVEN'T NOTIFIED ME ABOUT WHAT YOU WERE DOING! I'VE CALLED YOU _CONSTANTLY_ AND YET YOU DIDN'T ANSWER ME! EXPLAIN YOURSELF IMMEDIATELY!"

"i forgot to charge my phone."

"HOW COULD YOU FORGET TO DO SOMETHING SO CHILDISHLY SIMPLE?! YOU INCOMPETENT SACK OF BONES!"

"it was an honest mistake."

"HONESTY IS NOT A WORD I WOULD USE TO DESCRIBE YOU, SANS!"

" _This_ is your brother? His voice is painfully obnoxious."

"That's not a nice thing to say, Mom..."

"WHO IS THIS, SANS? WHY ARE TWO CLONES OF ASGORE ACCOMPANYING YOU?"

Sans blinked as he reognized all three voices almost instantly. So did Frisk, but not the last voice. Their suspicions were proven correct as UF!Sans, Asriel, and Toriel entered the scene, with Toriel looking rather distastefully at Papyrus. Asriel looked rather glad to see Sans and knowing that he was safe. However, things became rather tense once both Sanses made eye-socket contact with one another, Flowey blinked in confusion as he saw both Sanses for himself, and found himself beginning to bbelieve the whole alternate universes thing. Though now he was slightly nervous about how these two would interact.

UF!Sans stared intently at UT!Sans, and vice versa. Their expressions weren't very easy to read, being mostly blank and questioning. After a minute of intently staring at one another, the latter speaks up.

"golden tooth?"

"makes me look cool. pink slippers?"

"only true men wear pink without shame."

"admirable. still, i dunno how i feel about havin' that goodie-two shoes look on me. it just doesn't seem to fit."

"how do ya think i feel. i'm lookin' at myself right now, and i look like a thug."

"Frisk!" Toriel paid no heed to either of them, seeing Frisk standing a few feet before either of them.

"Mama!" Frisk beamed. They gently set Flowey down before running up to Toriel and jumping into her open arms. She gleefully catches them, happily swinging them about a bitbefore pulling them into a warm hug they gladly returned. "It's so good to see you! But I thought you said that you couldn't leave the Ruins no matter what?"

"I did, and I thought I would stick to that word." Toriel admitted, her eyes shifting to the side. "However...I was convinced otherwise in a rather strange upturn of fate that I won't pretend that I understand...and it came in the form of an alternate version of my son." She turned over towards Asriel, who sheepishly waves at Frisk and Flowey. Both of them seems rather shocked by this, espically the former, for a plethora of reasons. Though the main one is quie obvious even if the others might not fully understand it.

Asriel slowly steppe up to Flowey, who was staring at him in awe. Not knowing what to say next, Asriel just waved towards him as well. "Um...Howdy."

"...How...dy...?" Flowey repeated. No doubt that was his own catchphrase, which removed even more skeptical thoughts swirling around in his mind about the talk of alternate universes. Though he really needed to know how this was possible.

Asriel lowered his eyes. "I can tell that you have plenty of questions. I do as well. maybe we can help each other in a more private conversation. What do you think?"

Flowey looked up towards Frisk, who turned back and nodded in approval. Flowey sighed slightly as he allowed himself to be carried by Asriel and moved away so the two of them could talk in private. In the meantime, UF!Sans still stares at his Classic self and scoffed slightly with a shake of his head.

"geez...guess the kid really wasn't jokin' around about this business, was he?"

"so he gave you the rundown of what's goin' on?"

"yeah. and i gotta say...you all _seriously_ messed up. i mean, how could you even allow such a thing to happen?"

"i don't think i should be takin' criticism from you. you seem to be a guy who might be even lazier than i am, and i can be pretty lazy." Sans reasoned, shrugging nonchalantly. "but that's just me. who knows? you might even be a somewhat decent guy."

"Bah!" Toriel huffed in disapproval.

"...or perhaps not." He chuckled as he adjusted his jacket. "judgin' by the rather irritated look of our queen of monsters, i can say you're not _that_ much of a decent person. just decent enough to be somewhat acceptable to hang out with."

"piss off, dude. i'm an amazin' guy to be around. you can't comprehend how great a guy i really am!"

"That's easily debatable." Toriel scoffed again.

"stupid hag..."

"i rest my case." Classic Sans shrugged. "it might get a bit confusing to try and call each other out by names, so we should robably have some sort of code name for the both of us." He pointed to his counterpart. "how about this? i'll be called Blue, and you'll be called Red. should be easy enough to understand, right? at least to some extent." With two Sanses in the same universe, it might help to provide some sort of identification to decrease the confusion. Nevertheless, Classic Sans felt that things will only get more strange as more universes are explored.

"seriously? red and blue? _that's_ the best you can come up with?" Red rolled his eyes irritably.

"would you rather have me called classic while i'm here, and you be called edge?"

"...for some reason, edge just sounds even more demeaning. screw it, i guess i'll stick with red. whatever."

"glad you see things my way, red."

"...I AM CURRENTLY IRITATED BY MY SPLITTING HEADACHE." Papyrus shook his head, gripping his skull with a groan. "SANS, YOU'D BETTER BE CAPABLE OF FULLY EXPLAINING YOURSELF WHEN YOU RETURN HOME. BUT FOR NOW, IT SEEMS THAT THE HUMAN IS IN GOOD HANDS. I SHALL RETURN TO MY PATROL BACK IN SNOWDIN...DO NOT SLACK OFF, OR I SWEAR I'LL CRACK TWO OF YOUR RIBS!" With this, Papyrus simply moves away from the group, his head still hurting slightly.

Toriel sighed as she shook her head. "He can return home if he wishes. I shall continue to spurn myself onward for my children's sake." She remarked as she kept Frisk firmly in her arms and progressed onwards past both Sanses. She turned her head and glared at them strongly. "Keep up, whelps. Or I shall incinerate you for taking too long."

"y-yes!" Both Sans stood straight up, sweat dripping down their skulls.

Frisk looked to Toriel and shook their head in disapproval. "Mama, you can't keep threatening people just because they're taking too long. You have to give people more time than that, okay?"

"Oh...I apologize my child. I suppose I can give them somewhat of a break...but still, I don't wish to br slowed down by them." As she says this, she's still pondering about Asriel and Flowey's private conversation. Frisk was wondering the same thing, as they hoped the two of them would be alright. They acknowledged that they were somewhat the same in some aspects, and they also supposed that they would like to know the deeper details revolving around the differences between their histories. They want to reach an udnerstanding so they could reach a similar goal that they feel obligated to complete.

Though they still felt the instinctive need to bury themselves in Toriel's bosom, if only to avoid the sadistic grin that Red was sending their way.

...Classic Sans did not miss this detail. He needed his alternate counterpart under close watch if they were making this Frisk so uncomfortable.

 **(Hotlands)**

Alphys honestly didn't know what to expect once she jumped through that portal. Though if there something she _was_ sure of, was that the trip through that portal was slighly nausea-inducing. And given that she's not always capable of handling nausea so well, she very nearly emptied her stomach of whatever content was still within, given how she already vomited in the Omega Timeline out of guilt and stress. She'd rather not go through that embarassing experience again if she could help it.

She really wanted Undyne to be with her at this point. She wasn't sure f she would be able to handle being by herself ont hsi mission just yet. She really wished Undyne would be with her, as she needed somebody strong to hang onto, until she could become strong on her own. Right now, she was too emotionally fragile to progress on her own without her doubts overwhelming her. undyne could comfort her and get hee through those thoughts. But as she could already sense, Undyne was not anywhere near her, not in this area at all. It's not that she _can't_ progress wthout Undyne, but she would have a significantly easier time if she _was_ here. She would feel much more reassured if she was.

But at the moment, she had to accept that Undyne wasn't here. She had to do this on her own. Whatever situation she found herself in through the entry of this universe, she had to get through it on her own. At least through this realization, she can come to the conlcusion that everyone else must be in different locations as well, whhich would really make things more torublesome. So not only was Undyne not with her, she didn't even have the assistance of her other friends to reassure her. This was going to be _much_ harder than she thought it would be. Not that she expected this to be EASY, but...she admits that this was a bit ridiculous to start out with.

Nonetheles, she was done letting her mind wander on her own personaly crisis, she needed to get moving. She tried moving...only to realize that she couldn't. her eyes widened as she fully pushed herself out of unconsciousness, and gazed at the area around her. She was surprised by what she saw.

There was no doubting that this was her lab...or at least incredibly similar to her lab. She could see the large monitor near the entrance of said lab, as well as the second floor right above her. Those were recognizable at least. She also saw the many cupcake wrappers scattered across a table, accompanied by sticky notes of things she'd rather not think about right now. Then she saw the 'Mew Mew Kissy Cutie' poster on the far right...this was definitely her lab. This one was just...much, _much_ messier. It seems that cleanliness wasn't a main concern here.

She looks to the far left, attempting to find more clues about this lab. What she saw surprised her even more. There was a picture of herself. More accurately, her alternate self...and Undyne. The latter had an arm around her waist and both were wearing _immensely_ suggestive expressions as they lovingly gazed into each others eyes. The thoughts going through her head at the implications of such expressions made her blush intensely. She can't think about such things, it's indecent! She shouldn't be curious about stuff like that at all!

...Okay, she was a _little_ bit curious. Being a scientist increased her overall curiosity. She wondered what they could have been thinking at the time? Were they together? Were their jobs still the same? How about their respective motives? What do they d-

 _No! NO! Bad Alphys! No indecent thoughts! Turn AWAY from the indecent thoughts!_

"Ehuhuhuhu...you're finally awake."

Alphys heard the sound of doors sliding apart, and could see someone stepping through the entrance. She could see her alternate self. She was wearing a somewhat tattered lab coat, swirling glasses, a red and black striped shirt, a black skirt which was also somewhat tattered, and a rather sly and curious grin on her face. She stepped up to the table her counterpart was trapped to, and her grin widens a bit creepily.

" _Goood_...maybe now you can shed some light on what's going on...either that, or I can pull the answers out of you one at a time...I really wouldn't mind the latter. In fact...I'm almost counting on it." She says slowly, sinisterly. Alphys could see she even had a forked tongue, as if she wasn't scary enough. She sensed many vibes from her that belonged to a mad scientist. For all intents and purposes, Alphys was in serious danger-

 _Ding!_

The sinister atmosphere around her counterart disappears, and was replaced by a somewhat cheery one, clapping gleefully. "Oh my god! My cupcakes are done! Wait right here!" She paused, and blushed slightly. "Well...you don't really have a choice...because I kinda have you strapped to a table...um...wait there anyway!" She muttered in embarrassment before dashing off for her supposed finished cupcakes.

Alphys blinked owlishly at the entire exchange, trying to come up with the most sensible, comprehensive, and educated response to how quickly her counterpart switched gears just by the scent of her cupcakes.

"... _Wha_...?"

* * *

 **That's this chapter over and done with. Sorry for the wait, guys. The hiatus is definitely off for the moment, as our multiverse journey continues.**

 **A few of the chosen have already met their counterpart. Sans and Sans, Asriel and Flowey, sorta, and Alphys with Alphys.n The Alphys that enters is quite confused by the mixed signal her counterpart gave off, wonder where tha will go? Not to mention Asriel pulls this Flowey to the side so they can talk.**

 **...Sigh. Names are gonna be difficult to keep up with, aren't they? Oh well, I'll find a way to deal with it.**

 **See you next time!**


	8. Speaking To An alternate Self

**I hate myself for allowing this to come out so gosh darn late. I mean, seriously. I have got to keep this in with my current memories better, or else nothing is gonna work out! Geez!**

 **Oh, by the way, i've receiveed plenty of ideas for Au destinations over the month. I'll see what I can do with them once I get Underfell out of the way! Don't you worry, this is gonna keep going no matter what!**

 **So let's start it off! Though it's a bit short, yet also intentional.**

* * *

Alphys didn't expect things to end up like this. She thought things would have ended up more more different than this. But nope, here she was in a situation she didn't think that she could get trapped in by her own will. She teleported right into the clutches of her just as genius yet significantly more unstable counterpart, Fell!Alphys.

Wonderful. Just...wonderful.

This was her life now, apparently.

Fell!Alphys came back into the lab, with a tray of warm cupcakes steaming and having a wide variety of icings. She smiled brightly as she held out her tray to her counterpart. "Want a cupcake There's chocolate icing, vanilla icing, blueberry icing, strawberry icing...go on! Take your pick!~"

"Um...I can't? You kind of restrained me." Classic Alphys muttered as she stared awkwardly at her counterpart.

"Oh! Right, I guess I kind of forgot about that." Fell!Alphys rubbed her neck slightly. She then glared at Classic Alphys. "Okay. I'm going to let you out of those thinga. I suggest you not run. You won't like how that ends for you."

"How might that end for me?"

"I'll torture you until you burn out your lungs begging for the mercy you'll never receive."

"O-Oh d-dear..." Classic Alphys shivered at the serious tone as Fell!Alphys pressed a button nearby. Classic Alphys soon hopped of the table and rubbed her wrists, as well as her ankles. "So, was I unconscious the entire time I came here? What were you doing while I was out...?"

Fell!Alphys shrugged as she took a bite out of one of the cupcakes, which had red icing. That didn't really make her counterpart feel comfortable. They both took a seat at the nearby table, where the cupcakes were placed in the middle where they could both reach. "Well first off, I rubbed my eyes to make sure I wasn't crazier than I already was. I had to confirm that you were actually real. So first, I did a bit of a physical examination."

"Physical...examination...?"

"Yup. You have different eye color, but you definitely have my eyes. Same large tail, same claws, lab jacket, glasses..." She said while casually lifting them off on her finger. "...then I checked your wide hips, then I checked that we both have the same cute little muffin-top belly, and around the same breast size..." She smirked and made a slight squeezing motion with her paws as her counterpart began blushing deeply and crossing her arms over her chest. "Wow. You're easily embarrassed, aren't you?"

"Y-You went from a simple physical examination to sensually feeling me up? While I was unconscious!?"

"It's not often that I get to feel myself up from an outside perspective. I wasn't missing that opportunity! Ehuhuhuhuhu!~" Classic Alphys was deeply embarrassed by the fact that she was basically felt up by herself from another world. She didn't know how to properly process that. Her counterpart soon stops cackling and adopts a more focused expression. "In all seriousness, I needed to know if you were really me. So I took a small sample of your dust." She pointed to Alphys' arm, and she could see that there was a band-aid with the picture of a smiling catgirl. Guess they do have some similar interests. "The results came out an hour ago. I don't know how, but you're definitely me. What I wanna know from you is how the hell that's possible."

Classic Alphys sighed as she then takes a cupcake with blue icing, and munches onto it. She raised her eyebrows a bit in response. _Huh. This is actually pretty good..._ "Alright. I'll explain everything to you in terms we can both understand. It might take a while to fully explain though."

"None of my anime is coming on tonight, so believe that I've got plenty of time." Classic Alphys sighed at the response, but nonetheless proceeded to explain everything she cpuld to her counterpart, from the beginning of her and her friends experience, to the present. She didn't miss too many critical details, but it was still somewhat difficult because she still doesn't fully understand it herself. A bit shameful on her part because she was supposed to be a genius. But to be fair, the concepts of time and space weren't fully understood by anyone. Not anyone she knew, anyway. After she finished, which took up to thirty minutes, Fell!Alphys narrowed her eyes and folded her arms. "Alright."

"W-Wait...you actually believe me? Just like that?"

"You look far too innocent to actually be lying. By that, I mean innocent compared to me." That was her reasoning, apprently. Classic lphys didn't know why that was effective reasoning, but she wasn't about to risk her life over it. There were bigger things to worry about. "Anyway, this seems like a pretty serious deal...do you have a plan on how to proceed?"

"We're trying to help this universe reach it's happy ending...but looking at this universe...how it's structured...that might not be as easy as I would have preferred." Classic Alphys pouted as she folded her arms, shaking her head. "I don't know how we're going to be able to help this universe reach it's happy ending..."

"Yep. Here, the Underground is a shithole." Fell!Alphys deadpanned, making her counterpart gasp. "What. That's what it is. At least your Underground sounded somewhat managable...ya know, before a crazed glitchy Sans decided to murder everything but you and your closest friends."

"Y-You certainly don't pull any punches, do you...?"

"Pulling punches down here gets you killed. So no one does it." She replied bluntly, folding her arms. "Still, you really don't kniow how to bring this universe it's happy ending, huh? Then I guess you need a little bit of a helping paw from me." She stated with a nod. "The best idea I could possibly give you on how to bring the Underground, is to break that Barrier, and to defeat King Asgore."

"Defeat King Asgore...? Why would we need to do that...?"

"In blunt terms, he's the tyrant of the Underground. He's got this entire place feeding on it's own chaos. And he'll stop at nothing to reach the Surface and to destroy all of the humans that dared to oppose him. Unlike your Asgore, he doesn't have any thoughts about backing down from that goal, which is why it's imperative that he is defeated first before destroying the Barrier. That's the best solution that I can offer you." With this, she stands up and grabs her counterpart with one paw, and her cupcakes with the other. "Now come on, we've gotta get to MTT Resort as soon as possible. Both of our girlfriends are likely to be there, kicking each other's ass. Their conflicting morals is going to make confrontation inevitable."

'W-Wait a minute! Why is it that we need to get there soon?"

"Because a major crowd pleaser in the MTT Resort is it's fighting arena. It operates on gladiator rules, and Mettaton is the ringleader...and a colossal narcissistic jackass."

 _Mettaton..._ Classic Alphys lowered her head in sadness, remembering the fate of her universe's Mettaton with a somber expression as her counterprt took her out of the lab...

 **(Meanwhile)**

Asriel was speaking to this Universe's version of Flowey, as they both sat around a patch of Echo Flowers. He has just told Flowey of everything that he currently knows, and everything that is most likely happening right now. Flowey lowered his eyes as his petals drooped sadly.

"I see...so in your universe...while you were me...you were...like everyone else in my universe. Cruel, unfeeling, apathetic, sociopathic...all of those terrible things..." Flowey muttered, shaking his head. "I can't say that I fully apporve of how you received that soul, but I also know that it isn't your fault, nor your idea. Those events were entirely out of your control. And what happened to your universe was that a Chara from a different timeline wanted to help you...just goes to show how badly good deeds are punished."

"I...can't really disagree there. Sometimes life is cruel like that." Asriel sighed, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly. He then sighed as he gazed towards Flowey. "I guess that particular event doesn't really change, does it? Here, I'm still Flowey. A much nicer and kinder Flowey, but still Flowey. And you've been trying to help Frisk this entire time. They're the only person ehre who hasn't changed. Maybe they're bit more aware of how cruel things are in life, but they haven't given up on their determination to achieve something better. I really admire that about them."

"So do I...I just wished that following their path didn't lead to them being the only one suffering physical wounds...over...and over...and over again..." Flowey said with a somber voice as he gently shakes his head. "And I have to sit there and watch, helpless to help them...they're so determined not to fight, and they don't want me to fight, either...I admire their resolve, truly I do. But the suffering they willingly endure forn the sake of their ideals is painful to watch, and even more painful to have to see repeated. it's not a nice feeling, Asriel. It really isn't."

"I know how you feel..." Asriel sighed. "...Listen. You have to help me protect them. And not only protect them, but to also save this world in it's entirety. Do you think that you can help me with that? I would really appreciate it if you were able to help me."

"I...I'm not sure if I CAN help you. I haven't been of much help to anyone for the longest time...I'm not really sure that I can do much for you."

"Any help you can give us will be more than enough. The only way you could not be of help is doing nothing. So come on, Flowey. Give yourself a chance. Help us help this universe reach a happy conclusion, and free the monsters from the Underground." Asriel said as he pawed his new soul. "I just have to apply this power while the other six souls are out and near the BArrier. I'll break it then when we manage to change Dad's mind in this Underground. if he's a major obstacle in this Universe, then we have to convince him that conquest isn't the answer. We have to convince him that he is still capable of being a compassionate King."

"But...but what if he doesn't change...?"

"He'll change. His soul may be much darker in this universe, but he's still my father. We'll be able to change his mind with a little effort and Determination." Asriel said as he stands uo and turns to Flowey once again. "Please help us, Flowey. i mean it when i say that we can't do this without your help. It's going to take some inter-dimensional cooperation if we're going to succeed in this goal of ours. So...will you?"

Flowey contemplated how Asriel could gain so much confidence than he should be capable of having. In many senses, Asriel was not a very outspoken boy. But here he was, trying his best to right the wrongs that he saw, even across the multiverse. There were possibly infinite worlds out there, but that didn't seem to bother him as much as it should. He really was a different Asriel, and not just in the terms of being from a different world. After thinking it over, Flowey nods.

"I can't promise anything...but I am certainly going to do my best to help you in your goal."

Asriel smiled at this, and nodded kindly to him. "Thank you, Flowey. I really mean it." With this, Flowey stretched out some vines and attaches himself to Asriel's shoulder, his head appearing next to his. They both made their way back to the others who were waiting for them to finish their private conversation. To put it simply...Frisk was a rather effective mediator.

Fell!Toriel and Fell!Sans were glaring at each other harshly while sitting a few feet from one another. Frisk was standing right in the middle wth their hands outwards towards the both of them. Classic Sans was simply making sure that neither of them blew up at each other. Because if they came to blows...he was sure that Toriel would certainly crush his alternate self. And as much as he didn't like him, he was someone they needed. Sans saw Asriel and Flowey coming, and he sighed with relief.

"finally, you two are back. do ya mind givin' us a hand here. tori and other me almost came to blows, but frisk managed to calm em' down somewhat." Sans said, his hands in his pockets. "so what now, are you two good? you look like you're good."

Asriel and Flowey nodded to one another, and they turned to Sans. "We're good."

"great. so what's the plan here?"

Asriel narrowed his eyes. "We have to defeat the Asgore of this universe before breaking the Barrier. With this, we can mostly guarantee it's safety from freezing up. But we have to act fast." Asriel said while gazing towards a few other Echo Flowers. Some were still glowing bright blue. others were slowly turning...a gloomy shade of grey.

"Oh my goodness...!" Toriel gasped, holding her mouth in shock.

"it's already starting...which means the clock for this universe's complete freezing just began ticking." Flowey said seriously, looking at everyone else with a strong nod. "We need to move fast, guys! We can save everyone else explanations for later, but we can't let this accelerate into something unstable. That might be the point of no return if it reaches that point."

"there ain't no way we're gonna screw up without even doing anything yet. we definitely need to get moving as soon as possible." Sans nodded. Though coming from him, it was probably the strangest thing in the world, considering how he isn't one for swift movement. "i gotta save up on stamina, so we're just gonna have to book it to hotlands and pick up alphys and undyne. and then, we go and get our asgore."

"Ah...that is right. You brought your Asgore along as well." Toriel lowered her eyes and nodded. "I suppose I am interested in how he might act differently from my own...but we shall ponder that later. Come!" She declared as she marches forard, and the others quickly followed after the dark queen.

The clock was already ticking..and freezing...

 **(Meanwhile)**

Undyne didn't know if she wanted to be calm after realizing what was going on here.

She was stuck in this arena, an arena in which an alternate Mettaton was responsible for hosting, with a gleeful and sadistic smirk on his face. He found it entertaining to send other monsters to their deaths by having them fight to the death. Obviously, she highly disagreed with something so sent multiple monsters after her, trying to either kill her or get her to kill back.

But she didn't. She refused to kill a single one of them, no matter how much they tried to pressure her into doing so. She didn't give in. undyne is not someone who gives into the demands of others, especially demands such as these. No, she'll beat them down so that they don't want to fight anymore, but killing them is out of the question, absolutely. Though now she was preparing to face her toughest opponent yet. Then one she was most worried about, yet also excited.

Fighting herself.

She looked so much like her, if she were any more wild. Her hair was messy and she was marked head to toe with battle scars. A glowing crimson spear glows in her hand, and she was currently pointing it at her much more merciful counterpart with an annoyed yet bloodthirsty grin.

"You don't wanna kill any of your opponents, huh?" She said with a menacing grin. "Fine. It's just gonna make it infinitely easier to kill you without breaking a sweat! FUHUHUHUHU!~"

* * *

 **This chapter has ended! After an entire month, I finally come out with a new chapter for this story! Good flipping gosh, i've gotta learn how to manage these things better! I'm really interested in continuing, yet I'm not as motivated to write it as I'd like to be. Believe me, I wish I was. Good gosh, I wish I was more engaging when it comes to this story. I really want to be, ya know!**

 **Anyway, like I said, I've been given AU sugges5tions, and I'll be sure to give them a look-over! Until next time-which is hopefully sooner than a flipping month-readers!**


	9. Battle Between Hero And Villain

**Irritated by how long this took? Yeah, me too.**

 **It's not that I didn't know how to proceed. Far from it, I've been given a lot of ideas on AU's to explore after the Underfell arc. But...I just didn't have the motivation, and was mostly focused on other stories. I REALLY want to continue this, believe me.**

 **Like I said, this story isn't my main focus; but I'm now much more committed to continuing it. I decided to schedule updates for this on Tuesdays at _least._ This isn't a certainty since I'm back in college, but trust me, I'll be trying my best to keep that promise.**

 **Sorry to keep you waiting. This chapter isn't too spectacular, but I hope it somewhat makes up for the wait.**

* * *

 **[Battle Against A True Hero: Metal Cover]**

Undyne didn't consider herself lucky. But to be fair, there are times she considers luck to be an obstacle instead of an ally. In this case, it's definitely the latter.

She was standing across from her twisted counterpart, the one with the glowing red spear. She honestly didn't know how to take this, aside from great annoyance at this situation. In any other scenario, she'd actually be quite interested in having a mirror fight with herself. She probably still could, but the tight time limit that was placed on her would rendered that goal to be just a bit difficult. So enjoying the fight couldn't be her main focus. It would have to be aimed towards ending it.

But knowing how fierce of a fighter she was, she was well aware that wouldn't be an easy task on _any_ level. This was herself she was talking about here. And this version of her was much more violent, which was really making a statement. Though if this is how she was in this universe, she wondered what her relationship was with Alphys...

She was forced out of her thoughts as she jumped backwards, avoiding a sharp crimson spear jutting up from under her and nearly piercing her leg. She was then confronted by her mirror self slashing her spear down upon her. She countered with her blue spear, and the crowd gathered around and cheered louder for the ensuing bloodshed...or dustshed?

Doesn't really matter, does it?

"Fuhuhuhu! This is fantastic! A worthy opponent! And who else could be a more worthy opponent than myself?!" UF!Undyne grinned sadistically as she and her counterpart clashed their respective spears against one another, magic sparks scattering across the arena. UT!Undyne gritted her teeth while pushing bravely against her mirror adversary.

 _I don't have time for this, yet she's forcing me through this! At literally ANY other time, I would have freely acepted her challenge without any inhibitions._ Undyne narrowed her eye while looking around her, towards all the negative monsters around them, cheering for one of them to get gored, dusted, or worse. _And I thought I was battle-hungry..._ Undyne pushed her counterpart of and kicked her away, while she only skidded away a few feet. "Listen up, me! I don't have time for this! There's a lot for me to do without being entertainment for some psychotic robot!"

"Pyschotic and beauty go together pretty well, darling!~" UF!Mettaton was heard saying confidently from the intercoms around them. "And truly, what could be more beautiful than a bloodbath?!"

"You're only proving my point..." UF!Undyne grumbled. She was brought out of her thoughts as UF!Undyne swiftly headbutted her while she was distracted, making her snarl angrily while shaking her head. "Dammit! I have to stay focused. She's not joking around with I should know that, she's me..." She muttered to herself as she increased her guard against her counterpart, who charged at her again and slashed at her with her crimson spear, attempting to impale her. Undyne swiftly parries it, sending crimson magic sparks in that direction, and then parrying yet another slash towards her. In the middle of that parry, she punches UF!Undyne in the face while she attempted to catch her breath.

"Fuhuhu...you sure pack a punch. I wouldn't expect anything less from someone who looks like me!"

"I told you I don't have time for this! There's something important I have t-" UT!Undyne jumped back swiftly as multiple crimson spears pierced upwards from the ground. just barely cutting her leg, and another was very close to cutting her cheek. _Huh. Now I know how Frisk feels...talking to her isn't gonna do anything, not with her eye full of bloodlust._ She gripped her spear tightly as she raised her head, her focus becoming intense. _Alright then, fine. I have no choice but to beat it out of her before I screw up and she manages to get a mortal blow on me._ UT!Undyne briefly copies the actions of her double, raising her hand as multiple blue spears pierced upwards from the ground from where UF!Undyne was currently standing. Her double was quick to try to avoid most of them as best as she could, though her eye widened at what she witnessed next; UT!Undyne rushed towards her with her current spear in one hand and swiftly grabbed another stuck in the ground, and attempted to slash at her with both of them at once. UF!Undyne briefly dodged a few of them, before she was eventually cut multiple times when her double increased her pace and her ferocity with the attack.

The monsters around them cheered at the ferocity that the seemingly weaker Undyne has begun showing, feeling like she was finally getting serious wit her battle. UF!Mettaton was watching from where he stood, smiling widely at the increased ferocity between the two of them, becoming quite confident that his ratings were going to increase drastically from this deadly battle. And yet despite this, he was confused about one thing in particular; UT!Undyne, while fighting ruthlessly now, didn't have an inkling of killing intent within her. That was strange, he simply thought she was suppressing the desire to kill before to avoid backlash...but she was truly avoiding any attacks that would deliberately kill her double. It was bizarre, but he didn't really care as long as the ratings continued to skyrocket.

UF!Undyne grunted as she stepped a few feet away from her counterpart, gritting her teeth at the pain coursing through her body. To be fair, UT!Undyne wasn't faring very well either, it looked like she was slowly but surely growing exhausted, just as much as she was. Though also like her, she was far too determined to give up. So despite the good counterpart's transgressions with the idea, their battle continued. Neither of them wanted to lose, but UTUndyne had many more important reasons for not losing.

They clashed spears again, more magic sparks appearing as a result. Both of them gritted their teeth while pushing against one another, wanting to force the other into submission. Neither looked like they were even close to doing such a thing. UF!Undyne grinned, while UT!Undyne simply glared.

"What's the matter? Why do you look so serious? This is the most I've had to struggle with an opponent in a very long time. To be honest, I'm rather happy with this!" UF!Undyne grinned madly. UT!Undyne was still mostly silent, which was much unlike her. Though she did eventually speak a bit of her mind.

"Mind telling me why a majority of the Underground is an unbearable shithole?" She said strongly while pushing back against her. "Why is everyone hear so determined to achieve pointless bloodshed? You all are supposed to be fighting for the sake of a better future, not trying to kill each other! What the hell is wrong with all of you?!"

"Down here, we all operate by 'Kill or be Killed' rules. No one is immune to this. Only the strongest have any say on who lives or who dies. And I should know, for I'm one of the strongest."

"That may be, but there's nothing to gain from all of that. Killing when it proves absolutely necessary, I might be able to understand. But you all are doing it without reason. Are you all really that cynical?!" UT!Undyne can't ever find herself adjusting to a pacifist way of life like Frisk, so she had the least amount of trouble deciding to fight when needed. However, this version of her was fighting and killing because that's simply the way it goes down here. None of you are really thinking for yourselves...did Asgore implement this?" Undyne asked while pushing further against her. "He needs some serious talking to if that's the case."

"FUHUHUHU! As if someone like you can get within centimeters before the King! He'll grill you alive and eat you afterwards!"

"Okay. First of all...gross. Second of all, I find this to be a very poor choice in judgement. And I should know a thing or two about judgement. Specifically how bad I am at it!" UT!Undyne shouted as she kicks her counterpart back, watching her skid back as she herself pushed some of her crimson hair away from her face. "But I do know that the system you've got going on here is seriously messed up! there's gotta be a better way than this!"

"Even if there was a better way, who's going to figure it out? You? _Please!_ " UT!Undyne was about to retort, but more crimson spears rose up from the ground in an attempt to skewer her, as well as a few dozen that was raining down on her from the air, in which she parried as many of them as she could with her own blue spears. The echoes of the clashing weapons filled the arena, and the magic sparks resulting form the clashes grew more and more intense as time passes. Though it was becoming quite clear that they were beginning to lose some of their momentum, neither of them were willing to surrender the fight. They've made this clear multiple times, though the crowd was growing more anxious. one of them had to give in eventually. Though who would give in was unkwnon to everyone.

"Of course I might n ot be the one to figure this thing out. But there's gotta be a way, even if I'm not the one who figures it out. Eventually _someone_ will." UT!ndyne glared as she tosses more spears towards UF!Undyne, who briefly parries all of them with just as much ease as her counterpart. "You all look like you've given up entirely, and now decided to take it out on each other by killing one another for the smallest things! That's not a way to live, simply for survival and cruelty. There's no way you could possibly agree with all of this. Don't you wish for better? Don't you wish that you could live without always having to look over your shoulder?"

"..."

"Nothing to say? Did I really catch you off-guard? I highly doubt it." UT!Undyne glared harshly as she throws yet another spear, right towards her counterpart's chest. UF!Undyne parries that one as easily as the others, and throws one back in too was easily parried, before the both of them soon fell on one knee, both of them breathing hard from their exhaustion. The duel was slowly getting to them, and they might not be able to continue for much longer. Undyne wipes her mouth a bit before struggling back to her feet. She manifested two spears in her hands while glaring ahead. "This needs to end. I have far too many important things to do. Wasting my time here isn't one of them."

"Well then! By all means, try to end this quickly if you can!" UF!Undyne smirked.

UT!Undyne's only response was to continue glaring hard at her. She briefly swings her spear to the side and begins charging towards her counterpart. Briefly and fiercely, she threw one of the spears towards her, which was im mediately parried. UF!Undyne them manifested her own spear and lunged towards her with a roar. Another spear from UT!Undyne briefly parried it out of her path. But her eye widened in shock when she realized that she wasn't stopping. UT!Undyne lunged even more forcefully. Her spear hit her counterpart's armor and pierced straight through her shoulder, pushing her along until she hits the wall with a great crash. She swiftly summons another spear and jabs it into the other shoulder, effectively pinning her against the wall despite her troubles. She could have broken free...if only she wasn't exhausted from the results of most of the battle. UT!Undyne took a breath while stepping away from her counterpart.

The battle was over.

 **[End Music]**

The crowd roared with cheer, shock, and applause. Some were a bit disappointed, while most were filled with...disturbing ecstasy at the blue Undyne's victory. Said female fish panted heavily while her counterpart is pinned to the wall by her shoulders, simply glaring at her from her one eye. She did nothing but stare back at her, sighing that the battle was finally over, and she can simply walk away from all of this and continue with her mission.

"Alright...I admit it. You won...kill me."

...After she deals with _that_ little request.

"I'm sorry. What?"

"You're not deaf, are ya? You know what I said."

"Yeah, I know what ya said. I just have no desire to follow through with that twisted request. The hell are you thinking? Did you not listen to a word I said during our duel? Senseless killing is not gonna cut it."

UF!Undyne was growing more furious at this than actually losing the battle. "You can't just defy the rules like that! This is how things work down here, no exceptions! You proved to be the stronger one, so only you have the right to strike me down while I'm at my weakest!"

"I have all the victory I need, thank you. I'm just gonna leave, and I suggest you not try to obstruct me." UT!Undyne was coolly ignoring the immediate change of favor from the crowd, outright demanding that she kill UF!Undyne. She ignored them all, for she's already made her choice. "Besides...I don't think Alphys would be very happy if I just outright killed you. Neither yours or mine. We have a job to do, and it involves keeping as many monsters alive as we possibly can. We intend to get through this with minimal deaths. I'm not saying it will be _easy._ But there's surely a better way than what you're putting on the table."Undyne frowned. "Plus...killing myself would be a bit twisted, don't you think?"

UF!Undyne blinked owlishly towards her counterpart, realizing just how serious she was. "You...you're actually sparing me...?"

"Yup. You're spared. Try attacking me again, I'll just kick your ass a second time. But killing you is off-limits."UT!Undyne slowly grew annoyed about the growing number of booing and curses heading her way. She took a deep breath, turned towards the crowd, and shouted: " _SHUT UP, ALREADY! IF YOU DON'T LIKE MY DECISION, I DARE YA TO COME DOWN HERE AND FORCE ME TO CHANGE IT!_ " That threat rendered the entire arena silent. She huffed, folding her arms with a huff. "Yeah, that's what I thought."

UF!Undyne was still flabbergasted, even as the blue spears disappeared and released her shoulders. She stood back up and winced a bit from the pain, but adjusted to it quickly, then ultimately ignored it in favor of staring at her counterpart, who was more relieved than anything else. Before she had a chance to question her further, there was a loud slam of the arena's entrance, and someone stepped right through. The first person who appeared sent a cold shiver through most of the monsters souls.

UF!Toriel. And she looked rather irritated, complete with a twitching eye as she held UF!Frisk in her arms.

" _ **Why the hell is it so noisy...?**_ " She snarled.

Undyne's threat scared the entire audience into submission. Toriel simply snarling in annoyance terrified them into outright running away screaming. They didn't even have the bravery to question her appearance when she should be in the Ruins. Once everyone left, UF!Alphys wasted no time walking up to her Undyne and hugging her. UT!Alphys did the same for her own Undyne. After some contemplation, both of them returned the embrace to their respective Alphys, and UF!Undyne could now understand why her counterpart was so insistent on keeping her alive. Dying would mean she'd be leaving Alphys behind. The scientist was insane enough on her own. She'd surely snap into a point of no return if she were to leave her behind. She knew, because she felt the sane way.

She was rather annoyed by her counterpart rubbing it in with a cheeky grin of victory, though.

Asriel sighed, pawing his chest so he could catch his breath. "Thank goodness...everyone is alright. And we found Undyne.

"So what now? We've found your Undyne before something too terrible happened." Flowey said while placed atop UF!Frisk's head when Toriel set them down.

Asriel folded his arms and tilted his head. "Well...we're very close to Dad's Home, which is surely the place where both of our Dads are bound to be. We need to catch up to him before the two of them get into a-"

 _ **BOOM!**_

"...fight..." Asriel mumbled while shaking his head silently. That was the sound of fire magic exploding violently against one another. He looked towards the others, who seemed to be rather calm about the entire thing. To be honest, they had the right idea; panicking right now wouldn't do anyone much good except slowing them down. He nodded while he was the first to proceed onward.

They needed to hurry, before the Kings end up killing each other.

Unfortunately, aside from UT!Sans himself, UF!Sans has mysteriously disappeared from the group without a trace. He expected this, he didn't trust his counterpart for an instant.

Their encounter would be troublesome, he knew it.

* * *

Asgore was normally a very patient monster. Sometimes that patience cost him much more than it should. Patience, hesitance, and indecisiveness has cost him so much of his life that it was utterly ridiculous. He deeply regrets how his hesitance and unwillingness to submit to violence when it's necessary did him more harm than good.

Well, he definitely wasn't hesitating to submit to violence now. Meeting his counterpart and speaking to him for two minutes was more than enough to wear down his usually very low temper in a matter of moments. That was a very surprising accomplishment.

"You're a rather impudent excuse for a King, you know that, right?" UF!Asgore truly had the appearance of the beast. Looking like his counterpart, except that his armor was dirtier _before_ they fought, his eyes were crimson red, and his mane was black instead of gold. "If you don't like the way things work here, then simply leave and never return. This Kingdom is not yours to rule."

"You forced this Kingdom into anarchy and fear...that is not how a King should rule." Asgore growled, twirling his glowing crimson trident. " _It's time someone overthrew you._ "

* * *

 **I've decided to use page breakers more often for scene switching. This habit will carry onto other stories of mine as well. It just seems...easier. And I've seen other authors do so to make reading easier, so why not?**

 **If it doesn't work out after a few chapters, then I'll just stop. Sound good?**

 **Again, I vow to update this every Tuesday. I'll be doing my best to live up to that vow. So for those that still read this, know that the hiatus for this is over for real this time, and I have an actual schedule to balance myself with.**

 **Until next time!~**


	10. Leaving Underfell

UT!Asgore and UF!Asgore. Two kings from two different universes. One was relatively peaceful which had its degree of suffering but tries to stay somewhat hopeful...the other has become a complete anarchy under UF!Asgore's rule. Monsters were suffering even _more_ pointlessly than his own universe, but this version of him didn't seem to care too much about his subjects at all. There were a lot of things that Asgore couldn't stand, and that was a leader who didn't treat their subjects like actual living things. He wondered if the death of Asriel in this future was the cause for this terrible change. But , that was certainly not an excuse for him to banish the only family he has left and allow the Underground to do what it wants with itself, which is to slowly whittle itself away until it completely destroyed itself.

That was not going to fly with him. Not by a longshot. He was going to shut this down before it could get worse. Even if he didn't particularly _like_ this specific universe, that didn't mean he wanted it to freeze. So he was going to save it regardless of his personal feelings.

"I can't let you continue to lead the Kingdom into destruction this way. I'm going to beat some sense into you and save the denizens of this universe." UT!Asgore declared with a roar as he clashed trident with UF!Asgore, magic sparks emitting from the clash as they tried pushing against one another. Regular flames from Asgore rose fiercely behind him with this declaration, while UF!Asgore smiled sadistically as he pushed against his counterpart as well, black flames accompanying behind him and growing ever larger and fierce the longer they clashed. They both pushed forward which simultaneously pushed them both back in opposite directions, stopping themselves by jabbing their trident into the ground.

"You're far too soft. Pathetic. You actually have a bleeding heart for a people that don't even belong to you. You don't have any obligation to help them, especially if you're intending to make me change my ruling methods." UF!Asgore declared with a maddening grin as he spins his trident around to slash at his counterpart's armor. Much swifter than he looked, UT!Asgore dodged it by jumping back, skidding a few feet before stopping. He then throws a multitude of fireballs towards his sinister counterpart, which he countered by rapidly spinning his trident around and deflecting nearly all of them in multiple directions, At the very least, the good Asgore didn't have to worry about-somewhat-innocent bystanders in the crossfire.

Cross _fire_. He swears that Sans might get a kick out of that joke if he heard it aloud. Too bad he wasn't here to help him out right now, he could really use the assistance. The more help he had, the faster he could get this over with without significant damage. Though it appears there was going to be something significant happening whether he wanted it or not. At the very least, he could minimize the damage to himself and his counterpart. For how long, he couldn't be certain. But he also didn't want to risk too much.

"No one should be ruling a Kingdom the way you do." The good Asgore counterpart declared with a vicious snarl. "And you shouldn't try and discount my degree of softness. You don't keep order on an entire race by being soft. But you also don't take it to the extremes that you have. Your lack of compassion has been turning these monsters into something they shouldn't be, especially if they wish to reach the Surface! The humans would never accept you with attitudes like this!"

"That's because I'm sharing no interest in reconciling with humanity." UF!Asgore snarled while pushing away his cape, his black mane rustling a bit, as smoke emitted from his nostrils after taking a deep breath. "No. After claiming the seventh human soul, I shall absorb them all before ultimately shattering the Barrier apart after so long. It has delayed my desire for conquest for far too long!" He says with disdain at the thought of humanity imprisoning the King of Monsters in some inescapable hellhole. The counterpart, however, could only see this viewpoint with contempt and horror.

"How could you think such a thing? Conquest isn't going to make you feel any better!" He should know. After a brief flash of anger ending after some time, he's regretting even momentarily gaining a mindset such as that, because it wouldn't remove any of the pain he felt for losing his family. Being trapped within that situation was completely unfair to Asgore, yet he had no one to blame but himself...he refused to blame Chara, despite their very significant involvement in their family falling apart. He made the call and has come to deeply regret it, yet he could not back out of it. This Asgore, however was still fully intending on destroying humanity when the Barrier was broken. It didn't matter that this wasn't his universe, that simply wasn't something he was going to allow happen if he could help it. It might even be the key to saving this universe from being frozen and completing an altered but approved Pacifist Route.

"Hmph! Like I said, this shouldn't concern someone as soft as you! You have absolutely no place here!" UF!Asgore declared while briefly slashing at his counterpart, who countered by swinging his own trident towards him, the weapons clashing briefly and once again pushing them back in opposite directions. This time UF!Asgore avoided trying to close the distance this time, essentially raising his paw to make pillars of flames erupt from below to burn UT!Asgore while his guard was seemingly down. He wasn't easily fooled by said attack, however; he was easily able to jump away from the rise of the attack once he got a proper sense of which pillar of flames would rise first. The flames rose up from the ground, actually being able to tear apart the earth for a few moments just to try and burn him.

"It doesn't matter if I have no purpose here, I cannot simply walk away when I know there's something I can do. Especially when that something involves teaching someone as tyrannical as you a few important manners!" Asgore roared again as he tigthened his grip on his trident and swung at his evil counterpart with great force. Said swing resulting in a wave of flames sent towards his counterpart with the intent to scorch him. Being just as much a fire elemental, he was able to easily slash the flame wave in half after slicing vertically. That left an opening for UT!Asgore to charge right at UF!Asgore and ram into him, causing him to crash into the wall and cratering it. UF!Asgore stumbled back in surprised and grunted as his jade-eyed counterpart attempted to keep him pinned. He unfortunately wasn't pinned for long, a free paw gathering fire magic in his paw and slamming it into his side, causing a small explosion that caused him to gasp and force him off.

UF!Asgore grinned as he lightly brushed himself off as more flames gathered around him. "You don't seem to fully believe in what you're taking action for, do you? Because from where I stand, you seem to be quite hesitant to gather the courage to fight me. That is not a weakness I share with you, obviously. So do you really believe you're in a position to judge me the way you are now? I say again, this world has nothing to do with you. Walking away would be quite easy for you. But you're not going to do that, are you? That seems to be even less likely for someone like you. And I must say, that mindset will eventually become your undoing."

"I don't believe it will. I will not forsake my compassion as easily as you did. I will keep holding onto it, there ae people even counting on me to hold onto it for as long as I can. My lack of compassion once did more harm than good, I cannot allow that mistake to be a constant." UT!Asgore narrowed his eyes and looked into his counterpart's eyes to prove his resolve. "Just like I cannot allow you to continue the way you are now. This world needs a moe compassionate leader, not one who will freely and happily allow it to fall into anarchy. As I say again, that is not a trait that a King should have!" With renewed vigor, the good counterpart made the attempt to again defeat his counterpart as quickly as he could, which the latter seemed persistent in extending their conflict to unnecessary degrees.

He wasn't deterred at all. In fact, he was more determined than anything else at the moment.

With another strong roar, UT!Asgore swung his trident, sending yet another stream of flames across the room, yet in a much faster manner with more intense flames to accompany the swing. These flames actually succeeded in pushing UF!Asgore back a few feet. But he wasn't done by a long-shot; he runs towards UF!Asgore as a multitude of fireballs launched towards UF!Asgore. Each of them grew several times bigger before launching directly into the tyrant's chest, each of them resulting in an explosion that continuously pushed him back. _There's very little time to waste being locked in battle with this version of myself. I must not give him time to recover. No time to retaliate. No time to think of a counter. I shall beat the clock by defeating him as swiftly and forcefully as possible!_ This goal kept Asgore focused and ruthless doing whatever he possibly can to keep his counterpart off-balance, and to keep him from seriously retaliating.

UF!Asgore's eyes widened significantly as his defense slowly begins to crumble, regardless of how well he was trying to keep it up. All of a sudden his counterpart was taking a much more proactive approach when it came to his identical enemy; he refused to allow him any amount of time to think of or take any action that would result in the battle turning towards his favor. This change was startling, given how a few moments ago he was greatly hesitating to even gain the courage to attack him. It was such a drastic change in such a short amount of time that it alone served as a major distraction for him to rebel against the now surprisingly one-sided battle. This was further proven as he was once again smacked enough to be sent far, smacking back-first into a wall, causing yet another crater. It didn't stop there, as a larger fireball was sent his way, causing a much larger explosion than the other smaller one, and was much more devastating than them too.

When the smoke clears up at last, UF!Asgore gasped as he slowly fell forward and supported himself by propping himself with his arms and coming face-first within Asgore's trident, it being mere inches before him. He was baffled for a few moments by how the seemingly weaker, identical self was able to overpower him the moment he stopped wasting time. Whatever he was rushing for, he was dead-serious about it. At the very least, his resolve was definitely real, even if it escaped his understanding. Regardless of this, he was highly expecting to be executed right on the spot. This was shown by the fact that Asgore simply pulled his trident back and made it disappear the moment he was sure that his counterpart was no longer a danger.

This act baffled him for a few moments, before he decided to slowly stand up and gaze at his identical self in a fit of confusion.

"Did...did you just... _spare_ me...? Why would you do such a thing after all of the criticism you've given me for how I ran my kingdom...? There's no way that you could possibly feel positive feelings for me after I've just..."

"As much as I do find how you've managed this Kingdom to be utterly deplorable, there's no reason for you to have to die. Because you and I are, in a way, very much the same. I don't truly believe that you are someone who is filled with a great amount of evil. You still have a chance at turning yourself around from this, as hard as it might possibly be for you. You're me in a different alteration, so I do believe that you can manage this change if you truly work for it."

"...If we really are the same person with different alterations...then I really don't think I wish to know how I grew to be as soft as you." UF!Asgore groaned as he shakes his head. He then raised his paw, and briefly shot a ball of flames towards a flash of crimson light. He slowly approached the flash of light after striking it with flames. The one who was responsible for the flash was the one known as UF!Sans. He had recently arrived and has seen the end of the two king's battle. He was intending to simply blindside UT!Asgore while his guard was down, but his counterpart obviously wasn't about to let that happen. "Treachery once again, Sans? You sure enjoy trying my patience when I'm in my worst mood, do you? I must say, it is truly starting to get old. I'm tempted to simply burn you to ashes and be done with it."

UF!Sans seemed to have many regrets for this decision, as he was currently sweating and pulling on the collar of his jacket. _sheesh...i'm pissin' everyone off today...and much more than usual._

"Now now, I'm sure a reasonable punishment can be reached for him later. But right now, it is best that we spare him, for he is still needed." UT!Asgore declared, patting UF!Asgore's shoulder in order to calm him down somewhat. After this, he sees the others slowly enter the throne room to see that both Asgore's were still very clearly alive, which was a big relief to the ones trying to keep everyone alive. He smiled at the sight of Asriel in particular being alive and well, picking him up and hoisting him over his shoulder. "My son...I'm ever so glad that you are alright. You've managed to get here safely. This brings me great relief..."

"It wasn't easy for me, Dad. There were a lot of things that didn't want to cooperate with me or the others. But other than that, things were going relatively well for everyone." Asriel declared as Flowey slowly detached from his arm and landed on the ground. Asriel slowly jumped down from Asgore's soldier as he gently held out his alternate soul, and moved on to break the Barrier.

In the meantime, UF!Toriel walked up slowly to UF!Asgore, completely disregarding UT!Asgore. The former attempted to speak, but he was swiftly silenced before h could begin. "Don't speak. Just...don't speak. We have many things to talk about, there is no doubt about that. But not now. Now...I'm simply going to do this, and not question how nice it might feel." With this, UF!Toriel slowly wrapped her arms around him and pulled him into a hug. UF!Asgore was briefly startled by this, wondering what could have brought out such a nature, especially after he was the one who banished her to the Ruins in the first place. He then spots the child that was most likely responsible for the change: Frisk. They were supportively smiling at the two of them, and gestured for him not to question it right now, and to simply return the hug. Which he eventually did, albeit with a small smile.

Moments later, everyone would hear the sound of the Barrier effectively shattering into pieces, and the human souls being let free. Asriel returned as his own custom soul was restored into his chest, before gazing at his own party. "We're finished here...we should go." He then turns towards UF!Toriel and UF!Asgore. "I suggest that you give you people some time to rehabilitate themselves...life on the Surface would definitely be much easier if you were to teach them that humans aren't their enemy anymore. I'm sure Frisk will help you along that path...Frisk is really smart." He says with a genuine smile as he turns and begins to leave, with the rest of the party following him out.

UT!Sans was the one briefly walking next to him, slightly curious. "you're really gonna leave them as they are without some sort of fanfare? you must have a lot of faith in them."

"They're not nearly as evil as they claim to be. Trust me Sans...they'll soon turn themselves around. I believe in it. ANd I know Dad believes in them too." Asriel assures. Sans reluctantly stays silent as they left the world of Underfell at last, thinking of a safe place to go. SOon enough, the same door appeared before them, and they soon entered it without much trouble.

They would now have to check in with Ink and Core!Frisk, alongside everyone else still waiting for them back in the Omega Timeline. They would take a break to collect themselves, then make their way to the next universe.

But for now, it would seem that their objective has been reached.

* * *

 **The Underfell Arc has finally come to a close. Took me long enough, right? Now they'll finally return to the Omega Timeline and rest for the next adventure. It will be a bit of a two-chapter resting period before the mission picks back up.**

 **Just a heads up. A pretty well-needed heads up for the moment. I was a bit caught up in things, so I hope you can forgive me. I told you I would try my hardest. I meant it, and I can very well assure it.**

 **Until next time!**


	11. Pacing Ourselves

**Sorry readers, this one's a bit on the short side, more than the previous ones. But only because this is a resting period chapter, and another resting period chapter will come after this. I don't want those to drag on, but I don't want them too rushed, either. It's a difficult thing I still have troublle implementing. Hope you'll forgive me for that, as I do intend to improve.**

 **So, let's get started!**

* * *

Asriel and Asgore were the first ones to exit the door leading into the Omega Timeline. Everyone else soon followed after, and the door closes abruptly behind them. Ink Sans and Core Frisk, along with the other members of the gang, looked visibly glad that they were safe and sound. Ink in particular raised his arms high with glee.

"You came back alive! Congrats on the first stable AU!~" Ink beamed proudly at them. "It's no longer in danger of freezing. Good job, good job all of you!~"

"you were right about one thing. that au was incredibly edgy. but it looks like they just adamant on not letting their soft sides show because they were bad for too long." Sans analyzed with a yawn.

"Mom and Dad...they were completely different from what I expected them to be. They were drastically different. Though considering the setting, I can't exactly blame them." Asriel sighed while scratching his ears, simply glad that the first part was over. "I didn't think that things there were so crazy bad..."

"It is unfortunate that it is so difficult for them to find happiness, Asriel. But compared to other AU's out there, the one you were just in can be considered mild in comparison." Core Frisk said to Asriel quietly.

"yeah...that figures..." Sans sighed while scratching the back of his skull. "that was one of the easier dark au's...that's really messed up, on some levels."

"I'm not looking forward to that..." Undyne grumbled while scratching the back of her neck while walking into the Omega Timeline, the door closing behind them. She scrathed her head and lightly patted Alphys' head while moving her along. "But, we're gonna be traveling anyway, so there's really no use in complaining too much about it, is there? As long as we get things done, then we can deal with whatever, whenever."

"I'd rather we not push our luck, Undyne..." Alphys sighed softly.

Asgore was a bit solemn after seeing an alternate version of himself who has given into the darkness within his soul, because that's all he can really do for himself. And he actually succumbed to that darkness, he began to enjoy it, and has ruled the Underground with dark flames and an iron fist, well on it's way to it's own destruction. Asgore of Underfell was a tyrant who cared for almost no one. But considering that he didn't resist at all the moment he was being hugged by the Toriel of that universe...it's very much likely that he wasn't without salvation. He just needed someone to knock him down a few pegs before he could see that his ways were clearly wrong.

It would seem that the only one who was truly not worthy of being heavily trusted with be the Sans of that universe. Being a backstabber seems to be a personal talent that he shamelessly practices to make things more interesting for himself. It goes to show that the not-so-mentally-stable Toriel of that universe is more trustwrothy than Sans. SHe has standards. They weren't very great standards, but she can be given credit for at least having a higher one than most. She wasn't a traitor, she was simply banished. And that wasn't really alright with her, because she has a bit of messes to clean up no that she's stopped hiding.

Toriel sighed softly while turning towards him and Asriel. She calmed herself before she clasped her paws and nodded. "Are...are you two alright? Neither of you are badly hurt, are you?"

"No, mother. We're fine. Nothing too bad at all. It was actually a better experience than expected. It could have been a lot worse, but we're all glad that it wasn't. Have Frisk and Chara been doing well in here ever since we left?"

"They've been...rather silent sometimes. But they are certainly happy to see that you're safe and sound." Toriel says, which was proven by Frisk and Chara moving up to Asriel and wrapping him in a tight hug, which he was more than happy to return. "They were worried about you the entire time that you were gone. But now you're safe and sound...that's good. That's very good." She smiled a bit uneasily, trying to brush off how she was more worried than either of them. Though not exactly because she didn't care, but because Asriel probably wouldn't want to see that kind of expression on her face. He's just achieved a very significant victory, she couldn't take that away from him. She wouldn't feel right doing so. SO she simply smiled, letting him and the others relish their victoru for the moment.

"It's only going to get harder fom here, depending on what AU it is." Chara said, releasing Asriel from their grip while gazing towards him and Frisk. "It's likely that we're going to be facing tougher challenges. And what's more, we still have to be cautious of Error Sns. He could be anywhere, anytime. But the one place he can't breach is the Omega Timeline, without someone to actually and deliberately letting him in."

"That's right. We gotta go through some pretty painstaking stuff to make sure that thing...ya know, doesn't happen. Bad things will crop up if we're too sloppy with security." Ink frowned a bit while scratching the back of his skull. "Then again, I've never really been the best when it came to securing something, so I'm glad I at least have backup for that. Isn't thgat right Frisk?"

"Yes, having assistance on these matters is a definite must. Though more than anything, we must continue assiting each other. Which means we cannot hang onto grudges that will impede or utterly undermine our progress, like Undyne said." Core Frisk said slowly, gently turning their head towards Toriel. "You DO understand this, and take the words to heart...right, Toriel?"

"...Right. Of course I do..." Toriel said a bit nervously, and with a bit of shame. Asgore noticed this, and frowned sadly. Toriel was really having an inner struggle with this. The multiverse was at stake, and they were among the ones capable of saving it from a complete cease of fucntion. They needed to work together. And if Torie gets in the way of such an important objective because she couldn't let go of her grudge...then that would surely paint her in a very disappointing light in comparison to the others. She doesn't want that to happen to her, and neither did Asgore. And yet they still knew just how difficult it was for her to simply get over that.

If something terrible happens, and her blantant and uncaring self-righteousness is responsible...it won't be good for anyone, and it would be outright detrimental to herself. Undyne would be especially angry if Toriel lets something so minor get in the way of saving as many people as they could.

So he had to make sure that it doesn't come to that, they would all make sure it doesn't come to that. All they needed was time and patience. Both Asgore and Sans showed effective shades of this, even if it neither case had the most positive of results regarding the practice.

"Right then! You all deserve a bit of a break after such an episode! So we're gonna relax for a bit!" Ink spoke up cheerfully, his eyes changing every tme he blinked. Asriel and Frisk still found this quirk very mesmerizing, while it simply confused Sans. "Anyone want anything to eat? Omega Timeline is a pretty flexible place, unbelievably so. You owuld be surprised by it's capabilities!~"

"Wait a minute...so...we're just stopping for now...?" Undyne questioned a bit with a narrowed eye. "The Multiverse is at stake, and you want us to simply take a break...?"

Ink still smiled, though it held a tint of worry to it. "Of course I'm very serious about the state of the multiverse. And believe me, you'll get back out on the field as soon as possible. However, there's no point in pushing yourselves too hard, nor will there be a point in rushing yourselves to the point of exhaustion. If you don't take the time to rejuvenate, then the effort you would be putting innto the objective would be lessened no matter how hard you try, and you'll end up getting seriously hurt, or worse." Ink sighed a bit, adjusting his scarf. "So...take the time to recover your energy, and bring a semblance of peace to your min. if not peace, then at least some form of stability. You have every right to be worried about how things might go, but if it clouds your judgement in the long run, that too will be extremely detrimental."

"Ink is right, friends. It is highly important that we move quickly regarding this mission, but not so quickly to the point where you have no time for proper rest. There are some AU's where you will have no choice but to engage in combat, and a lack of rest will really put a damper on your efforts in those situations." Core Frisk added with a supportive nod. "You all have done well so far. Please, do not push yourselves too hard before you have properly rested."

"i'm totally down for that." Sans yawned while laying back, seemingly fallng into a nap without any effort at all. Everyone almost groaned at this, but found it somewhat acceptable. There wouldn't be much point in nitpicking about it. They would rest now, and proceed onwards later.

Papyrus looked towards Asriel. "SO...HOW WAS UNDERFELL'S VERSION OF ME? WAS HE AS SPECTACULAR AS I AM? IS HE ANYTHING LIKE ME AT ALLL?"

Asriel awkwardly scratched the back of his head. "Not completely. He _does_ have some traits that completely match up with yours...but those positive connections are still more few than we would like to admit. If you had mt him in person, then it would be really difficult for you to accept that you're both two versions of the same person. Even though I'm sure worse versions of you or any of us might pop up a some point..."

"OH. I SEE. WELL, MAYBE IN THE NEXT AU WE VISIT, WE CAN CONFRONT A VERSION OF ME THAT IS MUCH MORE AMICABLE. THAT WILL BE A BETTER TIME TO CONNECT WITH OTHERS."

"I hope so, Papyrus. I really do..."

Ink and Core Frisk watched them all for a moment, taking in their first success and resting up so they can be prepared for the next one. Ink turned to Core for a moment, nodding his head. "Like they said...this is only the first of many. It won't get any easier for them, not at all."

"I'm well aware...but we are sure that they can adjust themselves accordingly to the multiverse's dangers...and besides. I've said it before...they'll learn new things about themselves in the process. And that can certainly be considered a positive." Core Frisk nodded quietly while gazing at everyone as well. "But regardless of all of that...I stll worry for them."

"It's alright to be worried about them, Frisk. It simply shows that you really care about them!" Ink reassured them with an equally reassuring head pat. "One step at a time. Everything will work out as long as we pace ourselves accordingly."

Core Frisk nodded, still gazing at everyone across from them...Asriel and Chara in particular. They seem to be enjoying their short break while it was lasting, and didn't waste any time in their effort to connect. Then they remembered that Asriel was subconsciously expressing his desire to do the same for them. They smiled fondly at this.

"Yes...yes indeed. Pace ourselves..."

* * *

 **Well here we are, the first break period chapter. And it will continue into the next break period, where the plot will certainly pick itself back up. But for now, let's allow our heroes to rest for the time being, yeah? Considering what's been going on and what's sure to come, they will certainly need all the rest they can get before their next trip. It might be an easier AU to visit, it might not be. The main thing is that it won't matter _where_ they go next if they're not sufficiently rested for it, right?**

 **Well, suppose we can't really blame Undyne for worrying. They ARE on a time limit. It's just that rushing themselvs will be just as detrimental to their progress as being too slow to act. Hve to have a bit of a balance there, right? Classic Sans certainly didn't take too long to agree with that pace. Oh well. He's Sans. That's pretty expectant of him to accept that so easily. But STILL...**

 **Regardless, the next chapter will eventually come. Most likely next Tuesday. As I said, tings kinda get in the way when I'm focused on other things. Sorry about that. until next time, fellow readers!**


	12. Asriel And Core Frisk

**Nothin' much to say here. Just a casual chat between Classic Asriel and Core Frisk. Then the plot kicks back up after this, and things start to get a bit personal; especially in regards to the Dreemurrs.**

 **Chapter Start!**

* * *

"Say...does it ever get difficult for you?" Asriel asked quietly while taking a soft and gentle look towards Core Frisk.

"Being somewhat omniscient, you mean? In some ways, it does. Sometimes I'd rather see nothing than everything. That's how twisted some of these AU's are...they've been to dark places, one way or another. And most of them might just be beyond redemption." Core Frisk said while gazing towards Asriel. "...But on the other hand, I do somewhat enjoy being omniscient to a degree. While it's undeniable that there are terrible things lurking within the multiverse, there are very good things, too. I don't take that realization for granted."

"Oh...I see. I guess there's just a very strict positive and negative when it comes to being able to see almost everything at once...I don't see how you can cope with it all. You must have a lot of intense concentration or something."

"When you're a sort-of overseer of an entire multiverse, you kind of learn to _make_ time. And believe me, I've had plenty of time to consider these things and properly ponder them. Though even now, I'm still thinking on how to properly manage which one should I really focus on which one requires the most attention at the moment. That isn't alwways easy, since most universe require great attention all at once."

"That does seem a bit hard to do when you're seeing everywhere and anywhere, to a sense." Asriel said while tilting his head. "But on the bright side, you can properly discern which AU requires the most direct attention at the time so we can go ahead and help it as soon as we possibly can. Because we obviously can't be everywhere at once." He lowered his eyes as his eaze landed on the others in front of him. "Also...I'm also still a bit worried about the possibility of Error Sans trying to interfere with what we're trying to do. There's no way that he's going to just let us do whatever we want. He'll try to attack us again."

"Yes...that is true. Though the next time he tries, you all will be ready for him." Core Frisk reasoned while looking at Asriel with a soft nod. "Error Sans is definitely strong, but you all will have a decent chance against him if you all stick together, since you all now have a bit of insight as to how he tends to operate, and how he thinks and how he fights. With this in mind, you may have a way to counter him. Though your chances at actually defeating him will depend on his current mentality. Though no matter the mentality, it will always fall under unstable. And unstables are very hard to predict."

"But so is Ink Sans. Maybe that's because they're opposites in a sense? Ink inspires and supports creation, while Error is out to destroy. Is that why they're always fighting with one another, even though Ink wants to be friends?"

"To be honest...the exact details on their relationship can **_greatly_** vary depending on one's viewpoint. They could be best friends. They could be brothers. They could be arch-enemies. They could even be...um..." Core Frisk turned away a bit, not finishing the thought. Asriel was confused by the dark blush that began covering Core Frisk's cheeks. "Actually...it might be best if you didn't know about _that_ variation. It tends to be one of the most... _private_ interpretations of their relationship."

"What does that mean...?"

"At the age that you are now, at least on a mental scale...it's within your best interest to not know." Core Frisk didn't elaborate further on that little tidbit, and Asriel simply chose to drop it as a result, in which the being was grateful for. They soon stood up, with Asriel slowly following. "At any rate, if Error proves to be too much if you encounter him again, Ink will immediately come to your assistance if necessary. He's here to help, and is a very effective guide."

"CHECK THIS OUT!~" Ink at the time was shouting cheerfully as he flipped his paintbrush upwards and it landed perfectly on his head, balancing nicely as he folded his arms. "Check out my mad skills, Classic Sans! Are you impressed with me?~"

"zzzzz..." Said skeleton was still lying on his back, snoring away.

"...Oh...yeah. You're napping right now. Okay..." Ink mumbled, sounding a bit dejected. "...Hey Classic Undyne! Wanna see a trick?~"

"...Well...MOST of the time he's a very effective guide. Other times, he simply does whatever he wishes to amuse himself. It's never anything malicious, so I don't really call him out on it unless a situation calls for seriousness. Right now, since we're all resting, it's within his comfort to try and amuse everyone for the time being. Who knows? He'll definitely be a ray of sunshine compared to most things the multiverse has to deal with, and Error is definitely one of those things."

Asriel sighed as he turned towards his friends again. In particular, his mother and father. Despite what happened in the Underfell AU and what Asgore has witness, she still wasn't willing to sit down and talk to him. This lack of progress between them was really going to get to Asriel at this rate, as he didn't want them to be on the opposite sides of the spectrum forever, especially since they have a very important mission toaccomplish, which involes, you know, _saving_ _everyone_. Toriel was stubborn, that certainly wasn't up for debate. he supposed that the best they could all do is try harder in order to break the shell she formed around her heart.

"...You wish to have Toriel see reason, do you?" Core Frisk asked, causing Asriel to turn to them. "Grudges are not easy to disperse, Asriel. It's not likely to evaporate after merely one attempt. You have to keep pressuring her into talking to him and seeing reason. Otherwise these things will go nowhere between them. While Undyne's words from before certainly struck their chord, it's going to take much more. And I believe I may have the next destination that may help with such an issue." Core Frisk walks towards the group with Asriel in tow, before finally stopping before everyone. "The Next AU destination has been selected. It will be a bit more lax than the last one, so you should be able to handle it fairly easily. It's even achieved it's Pacifist Route. You simply have to make sure that nothing happens to it that might disrupt it at the last moment. Make sure it stays unfrozen."

"WE CAN HANDLE THAT! NO PROBLEM AT ALL!" Papyrus saluted, being more enthusiastic than the others aside from possibly Undyne. "CARE TO GIVE US A BIT OF INSIGHT ON THIS NEXT AU WE'RE GOING TO? SINCE THEY'RE DEFINITELY FRIENDLIER THAN THE ONES IN UNDERFELL."

"It's simple, really. The basic premise is like your own universe...but nearly everyone is swapped. Papyrus-Sans, Undyne-Alphys, Asgore-Toriel, those kinds of swaps."

"Sounds pretty weird..." Undyne raised an eyebrow.

"From your perspective, of course it would. You're the Royal Scientist. Alphys is Captain of the Royal Guard, Sans is the optimistic one, Papyrus is the lazy one who smokes quite often-"

"WAIT WHA-"

"-he often uses the 'i don't really have lungs' bit as an excuse...but let's be honest, no one is buying it." Core Frisk shook their head. "And as for Toriel and Asgore..." They turned towards Toriel with a solemn nod. "Toriel...it would be within your best interest if you accompany the group of Frisk, Papyrus, Alphys, and Chara. You might just learn a few things if you do."

"I will...?" Toriel seemed a bit confused by this, but nevertheless acceted. Asriel will be staying behind with Asgore, Undyne, and Sans. Asriel did seem to prefer spending a bit of time with his father for the time being, so she suppsoed she could agree to it.

"Alright then, guys! There's work to be done within this universe, and it's fairly simple! Just make sure nothing messes up the Pacifist Ending before it's truly completed. In other words, make sure the monsters complete their move to the Surface without problems."

"Okay, sure!' Frisk nodded as they watched Ink splash some bits of paint on the ground, which would lead to the next AU, known as Underswap. Although Toriel was just a bit intimidated by what she might find. Why did Core Frisk feel like she might learn something by visiting here? An AU in which the roles of herself and Asgore have been reversed?

She had only one way to find out, she supposed. She lead the other five into the colorful portal, and it closes behind them. Ink swiftly cleans up, and turns towards the others. "As for you guys, you're getting your own assignment as a seperate team!"

"Really? We are?" Undyne questioned.

"Sure! No reason to sit around doing nothing when you could cut down the timetable and help another AU while they're out. It'll make things a lot easier if two teams are moving. To lend a helping hand, I'll accompany you, but I'll have to be discreet. No one will see me unless I absolutely HAVE to intervene. Can't go around doing whatever I want, ya know?~"

"I suppose that's true..." Asgore reasoned. "Very well. What is our destination?"

Ink response by splashing more paint across , which leads to yet another AU, one that Asgore certainly might be needed in. Ink sighed. "There we go. This one is known as Asundertale. Same concept, try and make sure the mosnters get to the Surface as soon as they can, and make sure nothing messes it up."

"That sounds easy enough. What is the depiction?"

"Yeah...about that. It's very simple. Ever hear of how one simple change in a script could potentially rewrite nearly EVERYTHING? Well, this is one of those times, Asgore. And it's why you'll definitely be needed here, more than you'll understand until you actually jump in there."

"I won't understand until I actually jump in...what do you mean? What is going on over there?" Asgore blinked in confusion.

Ink sighed once again, before turning towards Asgore with a solemn gaze. "The basic premise? Everything is mostly the same...except you're the one that died instead of Asriel. You took his place so he didn't have to go through with it."

"What...?!" Asriel barely gasped in shock, while Asgore's eyes simply widened. "Dad took my place?! He's the one that died and-"

"Turned into Flowey. A drastically different looking Flowey, but Flowey nonetheless. They have been working on ways to turn him back to normal ever since. The Asriel and Toriel of that universe try to do the best that they can with everyone else...but they constantly lament that the state that you've placed yourself in so that Asriel didn't have to." Ink elaborated. "So...Asgore. It might do them some good if you stepped in to see them. Maybe their joy in seeing you won't really last forever...but it should definitely help the monsters of that Underground a little. They all miss you in that universe. Toriel especially. Even when you eventually leave...your appearance will be more than enough to generate a large spark of hope within everyone. And they'll try harder in bring the Asgore of that Universe back. So...what do you say...?"

Asgore slowly lowered his head, his golden hair briefly overshadowing his eyes. Undyne, Asriel, and Classic Sans looked on in a bit of worry, while Ink and Core Frisk simply watched the King of Monsters carefully. After some great consideration and deep breaths, Asgore raised his head, his eyes filled with Determination.

"I shall go to this universe known as Asundertale...and I shall do so, alone."

"Dad..." Asriel was a bit worried about his father, but he ultimately stepped back while holding his Locket. He trusted his father. He knows he'll be okay."

"Are you sure?" Ink asked seriously. Asgore nodded without a second of hesitation. "...Very well. I'll still accompany you. But like I said, I'll be hidden for the most part, so you'll mostly be on your own."

"Very well. Let us go."

"Right." Ink and Asgore nodded to one another. Asgore was the first to jump into the colorful portal, while Ink followed after him, and the paint portal eventually closes.

Asgore Dreemurr is heading towards the AU known as Asundertale, in a personal quest to mend broken hearts, and restore lost hope.

* * *

 **Any of you who knows a bit about the Asundertale AU might understand why Asgore feels the need to do this one on his own. At the moment, he's needed there more than anywhere else. This one is very personal to him, and he's showing no hesitation in participating.**

 **As for Toriel, Frisk, Chara, Papyrus, and Alphys, they'll be headed towards Underswap, where Toriel will receive her second stage of humility. She completely shuns Asgore because of what he did in their Universe...will she be so willing to do so in a Universe where their roles are reversed? Will she have an excuse? Most likely, not. And what about Frisk and US!Papyrus? That...might get awkward.**

 **So this is essentially the Underswap/Asundertale Arc. Two AU's, double the helping power! All they have to do is make sure the Pacifist Route-which is already complete-in each one actually reaches official completion, then they won't freeze. Should be simple, right? Maybe for Asundertale. Underswap...I wouldn't be so sure...**

 **Stay tuned! The next chapters will be longer again!**


	13. Swap and Asunder

**Another chapter on the horizon, time for a bit of progress on two fronts!**

 **...Eh. That's all I have to say. Not particularly creative with intros right now, ya see. Maybe I can be flashy another time.**

 **Chapter Start!**

* * *

Toriel was the first to land. Admittedly, said landing was a bit on the clumsy side, but the important thing was that it worked out somehow. Following her, would be the others landing around her this time. Alphys, Papyrus, Chara, and Frisk. She was having a bit of trouble tolerating the fact that the children were a part of this as well, but accepting that leaving them completely out of the conflict will do much more harm than good. Because unlike her, they have a much more concrete idea on what's going on. Doubly so since they're two of the three that's mainly surrounded by this entire mess that everyone's made for themselves.

Regardless of this, they continue on.

"HMMMM...WE SEEM TO BE SOMEWHERE AROUND HOTLANDS...HOW PECULIAR."Papyrus said while rubbing his chin while looking around for a few moments. "EVEN MORE PECULIAR...THERE ARE NO MONSTERS IN SIGHT. THEY MUST HAVE BEGAN MAKING THEIR WAY TOWARDS NEW HOME TO PREPARE FOR THEIR MOVE TOWARDS THE SURFACE."

"That's definitely a plausible conclusion. Though we also have to be careful when going traversing around, as we don't know what this AU has in store for us. It's like Ink and Core Frisk said, nearly everyone here is swapped when it comes to our roles."

"In that case, we just have to hope not to run into this world's version of Frisk." Chara said, causing Frisk to shiver fearfully at the implications.

"Right...I...I suppose that is for the best..." Toriel nodded reluctantly. "In any case, we should get moving. There's no use in staying put and asking ourselves questions we can soon answer by traveling."

"RIGHT. LET US BE OFF, DISCOVERIES AWAIT US IN THIS NEW WORLD OF OURS!~" Papyrus takes one step forward. Just one.

He jumped as he barely, _barely_ dodged a yellow magic axe thrown at his feet. Chara was the least surprised while the other three gasped in utter surprise. _Oh. THIS is the sign of an awesome start. Surely._ Luckily Chara hasn't lost any of their snark, or the stress would show more clearly own their face.

"Stop right there, punks."

They were all startled by the arrival of a yellow blur landing in front of them, with another axe in paw. A closer look at her made their eyes widen. It was...Alphys. Except this Alphys was...well... _ **different.**_ She wore a gray tank top with blue jeans, and like their Alphys, she walked around completely barefoot. That was a simple enough contrast. But it goes even further. With her arms- _muscular_ arms, mind you- exposed, they were decorated with slash scars. And there were three scars going down her left eye. She seems perfectly capable of opening it, but prefers to keep it closed. Even further, she had much sharper fangs, and much sharper claws, which didn't match the sharpness of her axe at all. Alphys was pretty sure she couldn't do that.

All in all, her presence was brimming with intimidation.

This was US!Alphys...UT!Alphys thought she'd never be blushing profusely at the sight of herself, but here she was.

She slowly stands up with her axe over her shoulder, and her paw on her hip. "Alright. Who the hell are all of you?"

"W-We come in peace! Honest!" UT!Alphys said with her arms raised in a placating manner. "We're, um...kind of from a different world, you see..."

"Alphys, are you sure that's the proper course of action...?" Toriel asked.

"What good will lying to them do other than waste precious time?" Alphys retorted, only to blink in a slight second of recollection. _Wow. I can literally TASTE the irony in that question..._

"Huuuhhhh...?" US!Alphys raised an eyebrow slightly, her muzzle itched in a slight snarl. Her axe soon dissipated as she folded her arms. "You mean all of that timey-wimey crap Papyrus subtly spouts is actually true?"

 _ME...OH, RIGHT. IN THIS WORLD, I'M SUPPOSED TO BE SANS, RIGHT...?_

US!Alphys slowly walked up to her counterpart, looking her over as she was nervously shivering at how close she was. She narrowed her eye a bit. "Hm...you seem weak on the outside."

 _She could have been at least a bit more gentle on that delivery..._ UT!Alphys sweatdropped.

Her counterpart continued her evaluation for a little bit, her similarly scarred tail moving up and down with slight curiosity. "You have no battle scars..." She continued as she lightly raised her arms. "Arms are just a bit skinnier..." She got a closer look at her face. "You need glasses, while I can see just fine..." She said while walking around her for a little bit. "Your tail seems relatively the same as mine..." UT!Alphys was a bit nervous on how her counterpart was approaching this, but was at least glad that she wasn't resorting to violence so quickly...though she meekly blushed as she felt her rear gently being felt, followed by a light pat. "Oh? Your ass is a bit bigger than mine, though. Commendable!"

"Oh my goodness..." Toriel stifled her own gasp, covering her muzzle with her paws.

 _R-Really...? S-She's the second version of me that I've met who's felt me up in such a manner and enjoyed it...why do I get the feeling that this won't be the last time I experience this...?_ Alphys thought as a bright blush spread across her face, twiddling her fingers. _I-I'm not THAT much to look at...am I...?_ Her Undyne certainly seems to think so. And the thought of that made her blush even brighter than before.

US!Alphys shrugged as she stepped back after brushing off her paws She soon turned and began leading the way. "Alright. Don't have any idea how to handle this, so you lot will have to follow me."

In the meantime...

"Gorey...come now...please be a bit more reasonable than this..." US!Toriel, dressed in royal armor reminiscent of UT!Asgore. Most of the monsters were gathered near New Home, currently making preparations to move onto the Surface after negotiations with the humans mostly went decently well. Unfortunately for her, things wouldn't come easily to her as she hoped, as US!Asgore was still a bit sore about everything that's happened between them. Though unlike the Classic Universe conflict between the two, he seems a bit more chill about it. He's still hurt, though."

"I have been thinking about it, Tori...and I do need a bit more time than what you've currently given me." US!Asgore told her a bit reluctantly as he was carrying US!Chara in his arms, making sure they were alright after the entire ordeal they've been through. Fortunately for them, they have their friends to help pick them back up when they're down.

"Oh...okay..." Toriel pouted a bit as she lowered her head sadly. At the very least, he wasn't outright denying her the chance to redeem herself. Though she now gained a proper understanding on where they stood; there was no way that this was going to be resolved very soon, but it's clear that it wouldn't take forever. She did wish it would take a bit sooner, but she wasn't going to push for anything at the thought of ruining the progress they already made.

"There's no need to be too upset, Queen Toriel...I'm sure he'll come around at some point...just be a bit patient with him." US!Undyne offered with a slightly timid smile. "At the very least, he isn't coldly blowing you off. That's progress you can certainly get behind, right...do be glad for that."

"I...I suppose so..."

US!Asgore smiled as he gently sets Chara down and gently pets the top of their head. "You've been through quite a lot, my child. Fortunately for you, you've had many looking after you for such a long time. Papyrus has been looking after you, like I requested. And I'm very much glad for that." He says sincerely while gently nuzzling the child and kissing the top of their head, making them giggle outwardly. "Hmhm! I'm so glad you've managed to remain safe, my child..."

Chara nods while they eagerly return Asgore's gentle embrace. While they did so, they looked around for the other monsters they were somehow able to save, and they did so without ever giving in to permanent darkness. They were honestly quite impressed with themselves. Though unfortunately, Temmie wouldn't be coming with them. That was her own decision, and they wouldn't be able to persuade her otherwise no matter how hard they tried. They had no choice but to leave them be, so they could find a solution another time. No need to force themselves to find a solution that they aren't currently capable of reaching at the moment.

"Heeeeeyyyyy! YO! Guys, I've got a few people that you might wanna meet. It's gonna be quite a weird time to explain all of this to me, ain't it!?" US!Alphys shouted out to most of the monsters, lightly scratching under her chin while her tail strongly wags in anticipation and slight confusion. Everyone else slowly turned towards US!Alphys' direction, and everything mostly went silent...which didn't assist with the awkwardness in the air at all.

 _Oh dear..._ UT!Toriel and US!Toriel thought simultaneously once they've officially caught sight of one another, their crimson eyes gazing at one another strangely in order to gain some sort of lost understand between them, even though this was their first time meeting and no such familiarity exists aside from them looking alike. The very same thing can be said for both Chara's, the US!Chara being shocked at their counterpart's lack of an arm. Only one wasn't as surprised, though...

"Well well...what do we have here...?"

Papyrus looked up...and he could only look on in surprise as he was indeed staring at his own swapped self, who was simply wearing an orange hoodie with brown shorts...and smoking a cigarette. Sure, he doesn't have lungs, but still, there's no way that wasn't model behavior. So far, nothing got out of hand, surprisingly.

That is...until US!Papyrus spotted Frisk.

A flash of orange later, he was right in front of them, startling them slightly. He slowly looks down on them with a dangerous orange glow in his eye, and he was grinning rather menacingly.

 ** _"Hiya pal..."_**

* * *

Asgore and Ink Sans landed somewhere around New Home, just around the entrance of it, really. Asgore landed with a light thundering stomp, while Ink landed gracefully as his scarf flows slightly from his momentum as well as the wind picking up from said landing. His eye sockets looked incredibly focused as he looked around for signs of any monsters in the vicinity that could possibly see him. Once he was sure that the coast was clear, he nodded and stood straight up while nodding towards Asgore.

"Alright, here we are. And without much trouble at all." Ink said softly while looking around cautiously. "This is definitely Asundertale. We got here without any complications, but that can quickly change at the drop of the hat, so we should still be cautious. Well...YOU should still be cautious about what you say and what you do. I, on the other hand will have to hide and avoid any contact with anyone. Otherwise known as... _Stealth Mode~_ " Ink said the last part just a bit dramatically while he slides his hands across his face with a playfully neutral grin on his face.

Asgore raised an eyebrow slightly, then he nodded slightly in a bit of understanding. "Very well. But if you need to stay incognito, but also need to stay close to me...how will you do such a thing...?"

"It's gonna be easy for me! Because I've got special paint colors just for this occasion! Check it!~" Ink twirls his brush around and splashed himself with a bit of clear paint, and he eventually turned transparent. "Ta-Da! Invisible Ink! _HA!_ Classic would have gotten a kick outta that one!~" Ink chuckled as he twirls his bush again and sheathes it on his back. "Now I can go incognito while staying close to you until I absolutely need to intervene. And as a bonus, it doesn't stain, so I won't need a trail! Pretty cool, right?~"

"I suppose so..." Asgore nodded, mostly focused on approaching the house in front of him'

"You could at least _pretend_ to be more impressed..." Ink pouted and began skulking after him while dragging his feet...not that he could be seen.

Because...ya know. Invisible _Ink!~_

...Sigh. Moving on.

Asgore opened the door to his old house fairly easily, and began taking a brief look around. There didn't seem to b anyone around, and no one seemed to have heard him, despite how his overall size should have hinted otherwise. He closed the door behind them, and was courteous enough to wipe his feet on the mat before proceeding further. And despite what he said further, Ink did the same thing, before proceeding onwards. Well, it was definitely easy to traverse the house, because it was basically the same as his own. Except...he noticed a few things different. Specifically in his room, where the picture of himself, Toriel, Asriel, and Chara. Under that image, lies a picture of the latter three, as well as a grumpy looking flower being held in a pot by Toriel...

It clicked.

"Flowey...that's what I look like here, isn't it...?" Asgore asked slowly.

"Yeah. You're Flowey in this universe. That doesn't change the fact that everyone misses you dearly...especially Toriel." Ink answered, his tone once again turning solemn. "Asriel is definitely less cheery than he used to be, yet he tries to stay strong. Not that Toriel doesn't for his sake...but her tears fall a lot easier than his. Much, much easier than his."

 _Tori..._ Asgore thought quietly while he closes his eyes and sighed deeply. She is definitely in a great degree of emotional pain in this universe, as Asgore willingly followed through with Chara's plan and prevented the loss of his son, at the cost of his own life. To be perfectly honest, that sounds like something he would have preferred over Asriel dying. The young Prince would be hurt, but at the very least, he would be much more capable in preserving hope within monsters since he's next in line for the title of King. Though at the time, that was a lot of pressure to place on a child who was still in mourning for his father.

In a way, this scenario was both better _and_ worse. That's not only a cruel twist of fate, but despite knowing this, Asgore _still_ prefers this over Asriel dying. Much more. And it's for a very simple reason.

"No parent should outlive their children..." Asgore said slowly while closing his eyes. "Thank goodness that was avoided here...but that doesn't mean that I do not acknowledge the heavy emotional toll it took on everyone close to me...truly tragic..."

"is that you in there, Asriel...?"

 _Zoinks!_ Ink gasped as he pressed himself against the wall and stayed perfectly still, putting his invisible paint to the test right now. Asgore didn't pay him any heeed, as the person whom he would soon be greeting would be on his mind and his center point of focus.

Asgore slowly turned towards the sound of the voice, and the face slowly emerging from the kitchen while busy cleaning a dirty plate. "My child, you should not be up so la-" She eventually looked upward...her eyes widened at one moment, and she dropped her plate in another, shattering against the floor.

 _Well that's just a waste of a good plate!_ Ink inwardly pouted. Though he quicky shook the immature thought off; there were much more important things to pay attention to at the moment, incognito or not.

Asgore looked over this world's Toriel, and vice versa. One thing definitely different about her, was that she kept the crown on her head. he was at least glad for that. Her, on the other hand, was still in complete disbelief at seeing her husband. Not as a flower, but in his true form, the form she was familiar with, the form she was warmest with. The form she remembers most fondly, and wished never had gone away. trying to figure out what to say, Asgore simply went with the best he could come up with:

"Um...Howdy, Tori~" Asgore waved sheepishly...cursing himself for his simplicity at such a delicate moment.

"...You...you're not a flower anymore...?" She whispered quietly, tears brimming from her eyes.

Asgore sheepishly rubbed his neck. "W-Well, you see...it's a bit more complicated than tha-" he didn't have time to finish, as Toriel was suddenly upon him, hugging him tightly and burying her head in his neck, nuzzling it slowly.

"...I am not aware if this is simply another dream or not..." Toriel said slowly, clutching tightly onto Asgore, as he felt more tears running down her face, and she lightly clenched her teeth. "But if it is...then I don't care...don't let me wake up...I beg of you...don't take my Fluffybuns away from me again... _ **please**...!_ "

Asgore frowned sadly as he unhesitatingly returned the hug that his wife's alternate self was giving, gently petting the back of her head while closing his eyes once again.

She was in worse shape than he thought she'd be...

* * *

 **In one AU, everyone is swapped.**

 **In another AU, a family is torn asunder.**

 **Does the chapter name sound clever yet?**

 **...Probably not.**

 **Oh well, until we move onto the next chapter, with more progress!**

 **...and possible meddlesome errors...**


	14. An Unexpected Error

**I was pretty late with this one.**

 **Crud. Just...just CRUD.**

 **Oh well, at least it's actually here, and there's just a bit more to it than the previous one. Things happpen in both AU's, some a bit more than others. See how that goes for everyone.**

 **Chapter Start!**

* * *

Asgore was gently holding the weeping Toriel in his arms, or at the very least, this world's version of Toriel. Ink was in no way bluffing about how completely broken she seems t be by his death in this world via taking Asriel's place. She was clutching onto him as hard as she possibly could, and she had absolutely no interest in letting him go any time soon. So he didn't let go of her, or vice versa. They simply held each other in a deep and close embrace while he tries comforting her as much as he could.

Though at the back of his mind, he felt the need to remind himself that this Toriel is not the one he knows. Yet at the same time, he will not use that as an excuse to be cold to her in any way. Instead, he will be just as warm to her as he would be to Classic Toriel, whether she returned his kindness or not. Ink was silently watching while still pressed against the wall, doing his best t stay completely hidden via invisible ink. He made sure not to give himself away, as there was no need for him to interfere on any of this, unless a danger approaches that he'll have have to step in to deal with. Though everything seemed to be going well for the moment.

After a few more minutes of comfort cuddling, Toriel pulls away but didn't leave the embrace, wiping away her tears. "I...I just do not understand. How is this possible...how are you...?"

Asgore rubbed his neck a bit. "W-Well, it's like I'm saying, it's actually rally, REALLY complicated, Tori."

"D-Daddy...?"

Asgre's eyes widened as he could see this world's version of Asriel coming down the stairs with eyes of disbelief. On top of his head was Flowey...and Asgore immediately noticed the difference. The flower looked a touch bit more mature and such, and he had red-orange petals, with his leaves looking a bit grand. Once the two of them locked eyes, the flower raised an eye in curiosity.

"...Wow. I guess I really _can_ be glad that I've cut a few pounds." He deadpanned. Asgore was a bit bewildered by this, but wasn't allowed much time to ponder it as he immediately latched onto Asgore while still making sure that he was secure and safe. With little way to respond aside from confusion, he simply returns the hug to this world's version of Asriel, gently picking him up and hugging him close over his shoulder. In the exchange, Toriel gently takes Flowey and steps back from the two for a bit, still quite bewildered by what's happening herself.

Knowing that Asgore had to explain things soon or else they'd be talking in circles, Asgore simply went with the truth right from the start. "You see, you too...I'm obviously not _your_ Asgore. I'm an Asgore from a different time...world...universe...place...er..." Asgore stammered a bit while scratching the back of his neck in a fit of his own confusion. Ink silently facepalmed in the background as Asriel and Toriel stared at him in a bit of confusion. Luckily Flowey seemed to have a much better idea of what's going on.

"I see. You're definitely not from this world. That look in your eyes...yeah, you're definitely not from here." Flowey stated with curious eyes and a raised eyebrow. "I wonder why you came all the way here...this is an interesting turn of events..."

Asgore was very much glad that this version of himself managed to explain things straight to the point and without stuttering, because he sure as hell wouldn't be able to do so very efficiently; he still didn't have a firm grip on what was going on, just that he had many important things to do, and that he was greatly needed for a majority of them. And he definitely didn't want to let anyone down because of it. And he did intend to follow through with that desire as much as he could.

Though these thoughts were thoroughly interrupted as Toriel came and cupped his cheeks. "That...what is happening here may definitely be beyond our comprehension. But it's very obvious that this is the truth. You'd never have a reason to lie to me or make something like this up...well, that and you tend to be rather terrible at it anyhow."

"She's got us there." Flowey shrugged. Asgore laughed sheepishly, but was in full agreement with the statement. He really didn't fancy himself to be very good at lying. By any and all accounts, he was downright terrible at it. His best ideas of deceit is to simply not say anything, but even that won't last very long when someone digs deep enough.

Asriel gently raised his head as he lightly held his Heart Locket, gazing up at the alternate version of his father with bright eyes towards his own. "So...you're another version of my father...? Who's...Who's come to help us in a great time of need...?"

"That's...basically the reason why I am here, yes." Asgore said with a mild sigh. "I've had to stay strong through quite a lot of arduous things, you see. And one of the most prominent aspects of this is what I'm doing now; traveling to different worlds and make sure that the most virtuous ending is either reached or that nothing seeks to completely disrupt it. And seeing as I've been here and nothing terrible has happened, I believe I can safely say that this timeline is safe from being frozen for the time being. Now it's just a matter of getting the monsters out of the Underground and onto the Surface."

"I see. Your goal here is to make sure we get to the Surface as soon as we can?" Toriel asked for a bit of confirmation. Asgore nodded quietly as Toriel took the time to process this. "If helping us proceed to the Surface is really what you desire, then I suppose that you're going to have quite an easy task on your paws. We're in the final stages of our packing, and we'll be ready in about four days at best."

"Ah...well done. Very well done." Asgore nodded with a soft smile. "Still, it would be preferable for me to stay and make sure that the monsters are within the right mindset to move onto the Surface, just to be sure that everything will be fine, and shall remain that way for the entirety of my stay. Though my departure shall definitely be sooner rather than later, I have a bit of a time constraint, you see."

"I do." Toriel nods quietly as she then proceeds to tenderly smile towards him. "At the very least...will you allow yourself to stay long enough for a bit of dinner? You don't have to proceed too much further with your mission at the moment, since everyone is most likely asleep right now."

"Yes. I do believe I can go along with that." Asgore smiled softly as Toriel slowly got up and moved back towards the kitchen...though she awkwardly paused as she realized that she needed to clean up the floor for a little bit because she dropped the plates before due to her shock of seeing him. She mumbled something about needing to buy some new plates before proceeding to clean up the glass mess she accidentally made. The one left was Asriel and Flowey, the latter having his eyebrow raised and leaves folded. Asgore then realized something, as his eyes widened as he shook his head. "I-I'm sorry! I don't mean to be intruding upon-"

"I wouldn't worry too much about it. It's fine." Flowey waved it off with a mild shrug. "It's gonna be some time before we can figure out a way for me restored to my former body. The two babies need this much more than they care t admit. It's a temporary thing, but it's a thing they sorely need." He admitted quietly.

Asriel gently moved towards Asgore, and enveloped him in a gentle, hesitant hug. Asgore smiled as he lightly picked him up and hugged him a bit closer to him, making sure that this world's version of his son was feeling very comfortable and safe around him.

Ink was meanwhile watching this entire scenario, still being rather stealthy the entire time. He looked away for a bit and cupped his chin. _Alright then. This one is going rather well so far, at least in terms of this AU. Though I wonder how the others are doing on their end..._

* * *

Frisk was at odds on what to do at this very moment. Right this moment, they didn't really feel like the safest child in the world, especially with their current position and the person who is standing in front of them. Swap!Papyrus was standing before them with a cigarette seemingly defying gravity and hanging off of his mouth whenever he spoke for a couple moments. Frisk was lightly frozen in a fit of confusion, not knowing how to proceed from here. The others were too afraid to move in fear of what might happen if they acted too soon or too late, but Toriel was clearly willing to step in and do some damage if something bad happened to Frisk.

Swap!Papyrus grinned as he slowly reached reached out with a long bony had. Frisk looked towards the counterpart of Papyrus, wondering what he might do and how they should react to it. The moment of truth, he was centimeters away. And...

 _Pat._

There was a brief moment of confusion-as well as sighs of relief all around-when Swap!Papyrus simply patted Frisk's head with a cheeky grin. "Whaddya doin' here? This ain't your guys get lost?~"

"Whew..." Classic Alphys and Swap!Undyne both sighed simultaneously as they realized that Frisk was in no serious amount of danger at the moment. Though as soon as that was done, they began examining one another closely, walking around one another in curious, analyzing circles, while the others began conversing with their own counterparts while explaining the situation to them. Multiple strange conversations ensued as the ther monsters gathered around the visitors in a curious and orderly manner.

Classic Papyrus and Swap!Papyrus looked at one anther with mostly neutral faces. The the former grew curious for a bit and and greeted himself. "GREETINGS, ALTERNATE ME FROM ANOTHER WORLD! I AM THE GREAT PAPYRUS! AND YOU ARE A GREAT PAPYRUS AS WELL?"

"Meh. I honestly don't see much greatness in me, to be honest. But if you'd like, you can call me by my more well-known name...Carrot."

"...CARROT? WHY CARROT?"

"I dunno. People seem pretty attached to it, like they call my brother Blueberry. For some reason it simply fits." He said with a nonchalant wave, before turning towards hi with a mild frown. "Now, tell me more about this freezin' thing. Seems to be a pretty serious deal if it's spreading throughout different universes and all of that noise."

"AH, YES. AT THE MOMENT, THIS UNIVERSE DOESN'T SEEM TO BE IN ANY SERIOUS DANGER. BUT IT'S PREFERABLE THAT WE DON'T TAKE ANY CHANCES AND MAKE SURE IT _STAYS_ SAFE. WE CANNOT TAKE MUCH CHANCES, ESPECIALLY SINCE THERE ARE FORCES OUT THERE THAT MAY SEEK TO IMPEDE OUR PROGRESS." Papyrus explained for a bit while turning towards the others, who ere speaking with their own counterparts for the time being, and learning some rather strange things about one another every now and then. Some of them weren't that serious.

'S-So...do you still like anime in this world...?" Classic Alphys asked while gazing at Swap!Alphys and Swap!Undyne. At the very least, she was also glad that these two were pretty much together already. Their love survives throughout a few dimensions, that's definitely something she can get behind and support.

"Like anime...love anime...I do believe that there's a pretty obvious question with a similarly obvious answer." Swap!Alphys said with her paws in her pockets and a slightly relaxed yawn. "Anime is a pretty major inspiration for some of Undyne's more casual projects. Ain't that right?~" She grinned while lightly nudgng Swap!Undyne, who began blushing a bit from the implications se. She nervously adjusted her glasses while smiling sheepishly.

"Yeah...I-I guess..it's a bit embarrassing to mention it, though. It's been private for so long, and now I'm just letting everyone know..." She said while looking to the side with a mildly sizable blush. "But I've been getting better and better, bit by bit. I've grown much more comfortable with my hobbies now, as well as my overall sense of confidence. I even overcame a majority of my stutters!~"

"That's great!" Classic Alphys nodded happily about this, clasping her paws. "I'm glad you're doing so well! It'll make your move to the Surface so much easier!"

"I'll bet..." Swap!Undyne smiled as she rubbed her neck. She then adjusted her glasses as she stared between the two Alphys' and mildly blushes. "So...in your world...I'm basically Alphys...and Alphys is basically me. With our roles reversed. That's a bit interesting to know..."

"Yeah. it is...it's still taking a bit of time for us to comprehend as well..."

"Meh. I still don't think i completely get it." Swap!Alphys shrugged a bit. "All I get from this is that in your world, I'm smart and Undyne''s strong. Pretty straightforward. So unlike my Undyne, yours has a bit more muscle. And unlike you, i too have a bit more muscle on me." She then smirked and blushed a bit. "I'll admit, I seem a bit cuter as you than I might be as me."

"But...you're still pretty cute. Don't sell yourself short." Swap!Undyne said with a slightly small smile, lightly hugging the warrior lizard, who graciously returns it as Classic Alphys watches with a smile.

And for the more serious conversations...

Classic Toriel and Swap!Toriel were observing most of the other monsters form afar, as they had their own little private conversation. The former watched Classic Chara and Swap!Chara share chocolate amongst themselves. The only person Chara will fully and willingly share chocolate with is themselves. It used to simply be figurative, but now it was literal as well. For some strange reason, she didn't consider this to be very surprising at all. But what she DiD fine surprising was the story of her Swap counterpart, and how eerily close and familiar it was.

"So you see...my rash actions have driven my husband away. Even when he was right next to me, I can feel that our emotional connection is nowhere near close to being completely fixed." Swap!Toriel said as she clasped her paws, staring at the Asgore in question with a look of deep longing. "I cannot fathom how much guilt I hold for my actions...they've caused so much pain. But at the very least, he was willing to hear me out so we can at least start over with a much fairer slate...something you have stubbornly refused to do."

"What...?!"

Swap!Toriel turned towards Classic Toriel with a sad smile. "In this...universe, as you say, Asgore has been in the very same position as you have. The roles of nearly everyone may havebeen swapped, but the way they play those roles are every close to the letter. Asgore is in your place, has every right to be angry at what I've done. Yet he shows evnough compassion and forgiveness to at the very least, give me a chance to redeem myself. Compare that to how cruelly you acted towards your Asgore and how you neither allowed him to redeem himself, nor did you admit your own faults, and believed you could get away with it. Tell me...what kind of person does that make you...?"

...Classic Toriel was at a brief loss for words. In this universe, Asgore is in her place, and she's in Asgores. Thus he has every chance to b as angry toards her counterpart as she was to her own Asgore. However, Swap!Asgore showed more restraint in his angr, and actually allowed Swap!Toriel to try and redeem herself, while also admitting that he obviously has some faults of his own that he chose to acknowledge. Toriel didn't do any of that. She saw herself as completely blameless, when it was the complete and utter opposite.

The realization caused her to stumble for a little bit, as she lightly stopped her beating heart and soul.

She didn't have time to act upon it, though.

 _ **"**_ **Heh...heh...he _hehhe_ eh...heh..." **The sound of constant glitching began filling the halls, and the main occupants turned around to see the cause. Something slowly exited from a portal of pure white. **"H-Hiya guys...what's goin' on...ya ended up all the way here in THIS world...** **"**

Swap!Papyrus swiftly avoided being wrapped up in a small storm of blue strings, jumping away and taking Classic Papyrus with him. He glared up angrily with his eye glowing a dangerous orange as he sees what was staring him down, and what he brought with him.

 **"Good to see you guys again! Guess what I brought!~"** Error said as he slowly lifted his hands to show the blue strings attached to Swap!Sans like a puppet, and Frisk...a Frisk with a real knife and immense killing intent. **"I've got a Blueberry in one hand, and a genocidal Frisk ina nother! Ain't that a doozy? And I'm gonna set em' lose on you fools so I can give this timeline spring cleanin"!"**

"O-Oh no...not good at all..." Classic Alphys shook nervously as Swap!Alphys took out a glowing yellow axe and held it tightly, clearly prepared to fight alongside Swap!Papyrus, who surprisingly summoned a few Gaster Blasters. Classic Papyrus was awestruck by this. Both Chara's retreated back with Swap!Asgore. Both Toriel's could see the scene and rushed to help. As for Frisk...

They still had a hard time looking at themselves with a knife combined with intent to kill...

* * *

 **Error's here to mess up our save and force us to start over!**

 **...Seriously, anyone ever have issues like that when they try to start up a game? Any game at all? Isn't that REALLY annoying sometimes? Especially when it comes without warning...much like how Error came to play in this chapter. And Blueberry and a Genocide Frisk are his current playthings.**

 **Bad times are coming inbound...**


	15. Unwanted Errors

**Ah geez. This took me forever t actually get out. I mean seriously, what's taken me so long? A bit fo writer's block for this particular story, perhaps? Yeah, that oughta do it. Didn't forget. Moving forward was just that difficult. But hey, I'm here now! And I'll be sure to continue updating this well, hopefully. That's my intention, anyway.**

 **Now, lets get on with this, alright?~**

 **Chapter Start!**

* * *

This was NOT a good time for Error to be pulling this move. Definitely not. Absolutely not.

Does he care?

Nope.

Error's only having fun when no one else is, apparently.

 **"Hiya pals! Didja miss me?~"** Error glitched slightly, grinning widely. It was not a grin safe for children that aren't Frisk or Chara. Because the Classic versions of them, especially the latter, were actually rather aggravated by him at this point. Because US!Chara seemed scared, while US!Frisk looked prepared to kill. **"Ah. So many alterations, so many possibilities. Well, if there's one thing a glitch may be good for, it's doin' my work for me. I'm slightly okay with that...still not gonna prevent me from killin' em' afterwards, but...shush! You heard nothing!"**

"Oh...this is not the time for this..." Classic Toriel whispered quietly while pushing Classic Chara behind her. US!Toriel and US!Asgore joined her, along with most of the others. She was about to pull Classic Frisk to her as well, but she was interrupted by multiple blue threads separating the two, causing her eyes to widen in panic. "No...!"

 **"Why run away? And after all the trouble I went through to give em' a playmate.~"** Error mocked as Classic Frisk stepped away from the sudden wall of blue threads. Classic Frisk was then attacked by US!Frisk, who slashed with their Real Knife. They swiftly dodged the slash while watching it cut deep into the ground. **"...Uh...that wasn't supposed to have killed you."**

"Really? _**Tell me more.**_ " US!Papyrus said darkly. Soon, Error dodged the blast of a Gaster Blaster sent by the taller skeleton, who was less than pleased that his brother has been taken hostage. "On second thought, I don't really care about all of that, I want my brother back!"

 **"Sorry! Blueberry is not up for refunds! Shoulda taken better care of him, Carrot!~"** Error taunted again while hanging...by...a thread...he would have said something about this, but he was far too distracted; US!Alphys swung a yellow axe towards him, slicing through his the threads that were restraining US!Sans, who was soon caught by his brother and pulled back a great distance from Error, greatly aggravating him. **"HEY! I said that Blueberries don't have a return policy!"**

"Tough break pal!" US!Alphys shouted in outrage as she throws another glowing yellow axe, which Error swiftly dodged by swinging about. His eye sockets widened as a Gaster Blaster manifested behind him, and blasted him into the ground. She formed another axe in her paw while looking at US!Sans. "Are you alright, buddy? That guy had you in his clutches, and he does NOT look or feel like a guy you wanna be captured by."

"I-It was just a bit scary..." Blueberry said quietly while gazing towards Error, who was slowly standing up and his blue threads began going wild. "...But...Error and I...we...we're supposed to be friends."

"Sans, I love you. You're my little buddy, and I always support you." US!Alphys shook her head while clutching onto her axe. "But that guy is definitely not someone who could possibly be anyone's friend and not be in chaotic amounts of danger."

"Hate to agree, bro. But Alphys is on the gold with that assumption." US!Papyrus said while another Gaster Blaster of his shot forth, and Error nimbly dodges it. "He's seriously trying to kill the others, had to evacuate them as quickly as we could, while a few others who could possibly still stand up to him stayed behind. And I don't think he's interested in taking prisoners..."

In the meantime, Classic Frisk was busy avoiding the numerous knife slashes of their Underswap counterpart. They were trying to find some sense of rhyme and reason to their current actions, but were entirely unable to find any that could really give them a sign to a solution. The child in front of them seemed fully devoted to the chaos that they were being persuaded to participate in. They jumped swiftly to the side as another slash cuts deeply across the ground. Their counterpart was growing rather irritated at the fact that they weren't dead yet, and redoubled their efforts in the process. Classic Frisk knew they had to keep their distance or else they wouldn't be able to escape without severe injury.

Both Toriels were watching from a distance, and the intense concern was very clear on their faces, as well as US!Asgore, who just holds both Charas tightly in his arms. Between the Frisks, and the battle in the background with Error, things definitely seemed chaotic on their end. They'd never expect Error to interrupt them out of the blue like that, and were a bit at a loss on what to do about it, they were too busy tending to the innocents. US!Papyrus and US!Alphys seemed to be effectively holding him off, though they were doing relatively well for the most part.

Blueberry was looking between them amidst their battle while hoping that it would stop soon. With Error's intentions being very clear, talking him down while he's in the middle of it was not going to work, and even had to be persuaded to not even make the attempt, less he place himself in even further danger than he was already in before, and he didn't want to burden his brother by interrupting him in such a way. But still, he doesn't take any fondness in this situation, it was highly distressful.

 _They're...they're seriously intent on hurting one another...I know that not stopping Error would mean that my friends might die...I can't really ignore that, I can't at all...but..._

Another Gaster Blaster fired towards Error; he was very quick to counter with an Error Blaster. The resulting explosion blinded everyone for several moments, which didn't do any favors for Error's already poor sight when it comes to things at a distance. **"Ugh...! That's just a tiny bit unfair, my eye sockets don't work as well as they used to...!"**

"Too bad for you!" US!Alphys shouted as she through yet another yellow axe towards Error, which was just barely defended against with a wall of blue threads. Being occupied with defending against said attack, US!Papyrus summoned another Gaster Blaster right behind Error and shot him in the back. The glitched skeleton yelped as he was sent spiralling into the ground, picking up great amounts of dirt before actually stopping. The tall skeleton materialized a bone in his hand as he tossed it upwards and caught it, before throwing it towards US!Frisk as hard as he could. Said Frisk was about to stab Classic Frisk, but was unceremoniously smacked in the back of the head by the hardened bone, making them fall over and drop their Real Knife, unconscious.

Classic Toriel breathed a sigh of relief as the wall of blue threads restraining the others finally went away, as they went to help Blueberry and Classic Frisk, while US!Asgore gently picked up the unconscious US!Frisk, feeing the intense killing intent vanish once Error's threads were no longer touching them. This was strange...was it him that brought them from a corrupted timeline? Classic Alphys wondered as she watches Error groggily stand back up on his feet, shaking his head and glaring.

 **"Ugh...you lot are seriously pissing me off! I came here to have some fun, and you all go and ruin it for me! Bastards!"** Error snarled angrily as more blue threads began gathering around and Error Blasters began charging around him. **"I'm gonna make you all pay for all of that, ten times ov-oh come on! Not now!"** Error groaned as he sensed a certain someone heading towards his direction and was very intent on attacking him. **"Grrr...you lot are heavily aggravating on many levels! You'd better hope that I don't run into you next time! I won't play around by then!"** He waved his hand as a window to the Anti-Void immediately opened, and he just as quickly jumps into it before any could attack him even further.

Ink appeared from a colorful painted window and landed on the ground while his scarf flails around for a few moments. He looked around for a bit,, just barely sensing Error escape back into the Anti-Void. He sighed as he twirled his brush and places it back in it's sheath. Geez...I was a few moments too late, huh? Well, at the very least, none of you seem too badly hurt, you actually managed to fight him off. Impressive."

US!Papyrus sighed as the glowing in his eyes vanished. This was a rather stressful day for them, but they were luckily able to fight Error off for the most part. "This is a bit ridiculous, that glitched bastard really tried to do a number on us and take Blueberry. Though we managed to keep him safe as well as everyone else."

"Ah, good. That's the most important thing that matters. It doesn't look like he'll try attacking this AU again unless he's desperate. That's unlikely, but it's far better to be safe than sorry on some fronts." Ink said with a nod. He knows what he said about not being spotted unless absolutely necessary, but sensing Error pierce into another AU definitely required his immediate attention, especially since he deliberately went after the latter half of the party. That definitely wasn't something he needed to happen when he's not on surveillance. Though to be fair, he also needed a warning from Core Frisk in order for him to further directly take action.

"WOW...THAT WAS CLOSE. VERY, VERY CLOSE." Classic Papyrus sighed when he realized that Blueberry really was much like him, always wishing to see the best in others, even though it seemingly doesn't exist. "AND THIS REALLY WON'T BE THE LAST TIME HE DOES SUCH A THING, WILL IT? IF THERE'S ONE THING THAT WE CAN BE SURE ABOUT, IT'S THAT HE WON'T STOP TRYING...HE DOESN'T LET MANY THINGS STOP HIM, DOES HE?"

"I wish some things actually did slow him down. It'd make restraining him much easier..." Ink sighed while rubbing the top of his skull.

US!Alphys sighed as her weapons dissipated as she folded her arms. "That certainly was something different, and a damn threatening challenge. But regardless, we managed to come out on top despite the odds."

"T-The odds were quite high to begin with...b-but at the very least, everything here will be fine now." US!Undyne said while adjusting her glasses and observing the chaos that remained from the battle. "Though by the looks of all of this damage, it looks like we'll have to wait at least a week or so before the other monsters will feel alright with moving towards the Surface. Another unexpected delay..."

"H-Hey. At the very least, you'll be able to attain a bit more data on the Surface and to get a better map of the land, so you'll have a better idea of how to better settle down there." Alphys smiled. "And as we did say before, it's best that you seek a bit of an agreement with the humans before proceeding any further."

"Haha!~ That's a rather great idea! And to think that it's technically coming from my mouth is something to behold!" US!Alphys laughed heartily while ensnaring her counterprt with one arm, poking her cheek with a claw, lightly squishing it. "You're n alright me, me! I'd be more than happy to see you again as soon as you're able!~"

"Um...okay!~"

In the meantime, Ink approached both Toriels, as well as US!Asgore. He turned towards Classic Toriel especially. "Toriel...there' something I have to show you." Ink said as he waved his paintbrush in one direction, and it opened yet another window of paint, though this time it showed a portal of it's own, which looks into the AU that he just left to help them: Asundertale. Toriel could see Asgore stepping up to a sort of podium in MTT Resort, where a majority of the monsters were gathered, many cameras being trained on him.

"Asgore...and he's on his own...?" Classic Toriel asked with a tilted head. "What does he think he's doing..?"

"Judging by what you've told me about your version of your husband so far...I really do suggest that you listen to this 'Ink' person." US!Toriel said while patting her counterpart's shoulder. "Don't speak at all. For once, please...open your ears...and try to see things from his perspective, as you visualize his words...only then will you be able to further your understanding, and humble yourself..."

Classic Toriel blinked in response to the calm advice of her Underswap counterpart. US!Asgore seem interested as well, looking through the colorful paint window to see and watch his Classic counterpart. Classic Toriel turned to the portal and began watching with increased attention.

What will Asgore say to them...?

* * *

 **This covers what happened on the Underswap side of things. The next chapter will cover what happened in Asundertale before this, and simultaneously end the arc afterwards. As you can see, Error's attempts to toy with his enemies greatly backfired on him, so he's unlikely to do so with this particular group repeatedly. He does learn his lessons...or he might forget and wonder what's who and why.**

 **He's erratic like that. Who knows.**

 **Await what happens next...**


	16. Encouragement From A King

**Asgore, simply by being there and aspiring hope within the Asundertale Au, he manages to be a symbol of hope for their eventual recovery. he deserves more love, yet he never stops giving it. What an amazing guy.**

 **That's about it. Not much to say, really. xD**

 **Chapter Start!**

* * *

 **{Asundertale AU}**

Asgore was currently trapped in a cage of anxiety. He didn't really remember the last time he made a proper and just speech towards his people, being in a different universe is not much of a concern for him when the subject is related to this issue. But there wasn't any justifiable way that he could back out of this, and he didn't really _want_ to back out of this, and he wasn't going to. But he couldn't deny that his anxiousness was going to get in the way of him thinking clearly and properly. Of course he didn't want things to be that way, and he didn't on following through. But given how he's Flowey in this timeline, he really didn't know how they were going to react to him. Asriel and Toriel already reacted, and it was shocked disbelief with hints of hope at his appearance not being a dream. That in of itself was a dependable testament of just how bad things were here, and he wanted to alleviate some of that pain any way he can.

Though that still doesn't change the fact that he really doesn't know what what to say to the people of a different universe, which is why he was feeling so anxious. As a King, he felt highly embarrassed about this to the point of blushing. THough he's been given slight encouragement from Ink Sans himself when he he said that he had to leave to meet up with the other team very quickly:

 _Okay Fluffbutt. Now I know that you're feeling nervous because you're intending on giving speech to an alternate version of the Kingdom. But believe me when I repeat myself for a bit. Take away the fact that you're the one who's Flowey in this AU and how the others feel about it, things aren't that different. Which means that it's perfectly viable for you to speak your mind towards them and give them a feeling of hope. Simply **being** there will be one very big positive. Just let them hear you speak, big guy. Just being there for someone who needs you can be a very big thing, and all of these people need you at the moment. So do your best out there, and I'll come back for you later!_

Asgore was surely filled with confidence regarding Ink's faith in his ability to return hope to his people, even if they aren't exactly 'his' people. But that part of the matter wasn't significant; they needed his aid, so he was going to provide aid as best as he could. They didn't deserve to be perpetually sad, they deserved to feel happy about having something to look forward to. Because he was fully aware that high pressure was being placed on poor Asriel and Toriel to keep everyone together and keep them happy and hopeful.

He was going through these thoughts as he made his way through the backstage of MTT Resort. Asriel suggested that he enter through the back and make his way to the stage to make it a bit more surprising, which his mother found quite silly. But Asgore didn't object. In fact, he was fine with it, as it gave him some time to clear up his own muddled thoughts before he could really go out there.

"Oh boy...I know what I'll say, but can I really go through with it, knowing the circumstances of the situation they're in..." Asgore sighed softly as he rubbed the back of his neck. "Ah boy golly...what a conundrum I've placed myself in...but there's no way I'm simply going to walk away from it, either. Suppose I'll simply have to face them and get it over with, and hope that things work out well..." As he finished talking himself up as best as he could, he pushed through the curtains and greeted the monsters before him with a smile and wave. "Howdy...!" ...There wasn't much he could do now, though he felt that starting with that might not have been the best of ideas. But there's no taking it back. And sure enough, the reaction was semi-predictable...a very loud outburst from nearly every monster within sight.

 _Is that the King?!_

 _It is! It's truly King Asgore!_

 _But isn't he supposed to be...well, uh...dead?_

 _That's clearly him right there, standing before us, alive and well! And really, does it really matter how he's here? Just that he's here!~_

 _Is he okay, though?_

 _We love you, Asgore! We thought we'd never see you again! We're glad for your miraculous recovery!_

Silly monsters. Death isn't something that's easily remedied, though he supposed that they didn't really need to know the circumstances behind it...but he still didn't wish to lie to them. So for better or worse, he would try to be truthful while attempting not to put them into a full depressed state. They deserved semblances of hope, and he's going to try and deliver. Asgore cleared his throat and thus began to speak.

"Fellow monsters...it is indeed I, Asgore Dreemurr. But surely not the one that you are all inherently familiar with. I am one of a different world entirely...while yours is still deceased in a sense." The citizens were rightfully confused by what he was currently saying, he didn't blame them in the slightest. But he knew that he had to continue anyway. "I am here to give you a message, in a sense. I have come to this world because I have been notified of how close it is to falling to despair without me here to help you all. My son has enormous pressure placed on him as the heir to monsterkind's salvation, and my dear wife has been lonely as well. Without me to reassure them, they, along with all of you, have surely fallen on some truly challenging times. And I sincerely believe that you all deserve better than that. You deserved better than me leaving you behind the way that I did during an era you needed me the most. For that, even though I am not of this world, I express my deepest regrets for not being able to do more for you..."

Asgore paused for a moment as the first bits of his speaking reached out to his fellow monsters. He expected them to react with confusion at disbelief at being from an entirely different world and such, then proceed to dismiss themselves from his presence. But nothing of the sort happened. No, they stayed where they were and were paying attention to his every word, latching onto them as if they were lifelines. For some, it may very well be a lifeline for them. They were that desperate to hear his voice again, even if it would be the last time in a long while. They had no qualms of any srot, which was slowly building Asgore's confidence, and happiness that they're so willing to listen to him despite his outrageous claims.

"However, the very least that I can do is give you words of support. Around my world, things are not that easy, either. In fact, I'd say things have been painfully difficult for me. In my place, my son is the one who died. My declaration for war out of grief has driven my wife away from me, leaving with a feeling of never seeing my family again. It left me with such a feeling of misery, yet I could not escape from, the burden I had placed on myself. My people needed hope to latch onto, and this was the one thing that had revitalized them. So against my personal misgivings, I continued my campaign quietly, willingly, regrettably, without complaint...but I cannot deny the intense feeling of utter loneliness..."

In the background, Asriel was still greatly surprised that he was the one who had died instead of his father, which surely left a rift between his parents, and a deep dark hole within the hearts and souls of his monsters, turning them bitter and without hope. His father had to keep them hopeful, as both he and Toriel left him behind to clean up Asriel's mess. In Toriel's case, she couldn't fathom why she would leave her husband to take the burden when he clearly and sorely needed her. There was no justifiable excuse for it. Even discarding that, she still willingly abandoned her people to rot because she didn't approve of their decision. That was simply despicable, in her opinion. She'd never think of abandoning her people to despair simply because she felt her own sense of right and wrong was the only one that was truly correct.

Asgore sighed softly. "But I bear no ill will towards Tori. In all honesty, I would not want to be around me either for not coming up with a better solution to our plight, or simply following hers. And I did miss my son very dearly. I was always brimming on the edge of mental and emotional collapse...but i kept going for all of your as King, if I could not assure my own happiness, I could at the very least do my best to assure yours. And I can see that here, you're doing your absolute best to manage without meso that you would not further burden Asriel and Toriel. And for that, I sincerely, with all my heart, thank you for making such a significant effort for them. Thank you for trying to stay strong for as long as you have, for their sakes as well as your own.. I'm deeply proud of you, and I hope that you continue to be strong. A peaceful coexistence between humans and monster IS possible. Seek it out with all of your ability, do not give up, and always strive to become better than you ever were before."

The monsters grew ever more tense, and even excited by his words. And they were a bit more inspired by the genuine and hope-filled smile on his face as he gently waved to them.

"Stay Determined, everyone...I love you all." With this, Asgore slowly leaves the stage, and the monsters were left cheering with immense happiness, glee, and revitalized hope for both themselves and their future. As he begins to leave, he spots Asriel and Toriel, both gazing at him with looks of gratitude. They felt that a great weight was left off of their shoulders. Flowey simply huffed and looked to the sight, somewhat approving of Asgore's performance, mostly because he could do what he himself currently could not. Asgore sheepishly rubbed his neck as they simply stared at him in amazement. "Well...did I do well?"

"You didn wonderfully, my dear. Absolutely wonderful. I sincerely thank you for this. This will make things much easier for us, as well as our fellow monsters. Thank you for being here when we needed you...even though it's temporary."

"Yes...indeed." Asgore nodded. He looks to the side, imagining a door back to the Omega Timeline, imaging a safe place and a door to it, like he was instructed.

"You're leaving so soon, Dad...?" Asriel said as he walks up and hugged Asgore. The King smiled as he lowered himself and returned the hug, lightly petting his head. "I don't care if you're from a different world...I still love you..."

"And I love you as well, my child. Be well, and be strong." Asgore responded while lightly kissing his forehead. he soon stands up and gazed at Toriel, with lowered eyes.

"...Your Toriel...she gave up something special for her own sense of pride...I cannot say that approve of that. I'm more disappointed in myself than I care to imagine." She said with a frown and a shake of her head. "Hopefully she comes to her senses very soon, or else that disappointment will increase..."

"It's fine, Tori. Truly." Asgore waved it off.

Toriel did not agree, but knew that convincing him was useless. So she simply walked up to him, got on her toes, and lightly kissed his snout. "You also be well, Fluffybuns. I wish you luck on your mission, and I wish you luck with your life as a whole. No matter what your version of me says, you deserve to be forgiven. You wouldn't try so hard for everyone if you didn't."

"...Thank you, Tori..." Asgore smiled and nodded towards her. He soon stepped through the door to the Omega Timeline, which disappeared as soon as it closed behind him.

It was for a short while...but Asgore had managed to save an entire timeline...simply for being there when his people needed his presence. Their path was unknown...but he was sure they would be fine.

* * *

 **Next chapter shows the aftermath of the completed missions, and the end of the arc. Asgore has no ill will towards Toriel, not a one. While Toriel has been nothing but spiteful and unforgiving when he tries to redeem himself...hopefully she can do better...**

 **Until next time!~**


	17. So Far So Good

**Not too much to say here. Just the aftermath of the arc, then we're immediately jumping into the next arc. It's going to be something big, in two very different ways. How? Go ahead and read to find out!**

 **Chapter Start!**

* * *

Their mission ended much better than they thought it would, despite Error's interruption. Though it still left the participants particular marks on them. It's definitely not something they could help, nor did they think they wanted to help it. One thing is for sure, their experiences were changing more and more by the moment, with or without their consent. And one of their biggest changes was how they were seeing certain situations of past, present, and future.

And among all of them, Toriel was possibly the _most_ affected.

After Asgore gaze his speech to the denizens of the Asundertale AU, she was able to see who the Flowey of that universe was. It was indeed Asgore himself, after he selflessly takes Asriel's place in sacrificing himself so that monsterkind can move on. She cannot deny that a part of her was horrified by this, her husband would be selfless enough to give up his own life so that the hope of all Monsters would stay preserved and live on to become their greatest figurehead. They would lose a great leader, yes. But the heir that would become their next leader would live on. He knew that Asriel would be strong enough to push through the pain, however difficult it may be. Asriel was scared and sad, but he was determined to do right by everyone whenever and however they could. His father would be proud of him that way. And the fact that an alternate version of herself treated her Asgore far better than she ever did...and seeing how lost she would be without him...

With this kind of insight in mind, Toriel has mostly been silent throughout the entire trip back to the Omega Timeline. Having a pretty good idea as to why this was, no one called her out on it, end simply made their trip back to the Omega Timeline in silence. Ink respected this, and decided to save the debriefing and such until they actually made it back, especially after making sure that Error Sans wasn't on their trail in any meaningful way. They didn't need it with the kind of mood that they were in.

They soon stepped into the Omega Timeline perfectly intact. Core Frisk was currently talking with the other half of the group on how to further their progress. They already knew that they were stepping in, as well as the experiences that they recently been through. Asgore turned towards the approaching Toriel, who sheepishly looked away from him. Though he was intuitive enough to sense the difference. All other times were from anger or disgust. Now...now there was shame in her eyes. And it was directed towards herself. He wondered what could have caused such a change, but he unfortunately would have to address the issue later. Right now, they all needed to pay attention to their debriefing on the current progress of things, now that everyone was in full attendence.

Core Frisk began: "Good. You all made it back safely. I'm glad that it managed to work out well for all of you. Three universes are now protected from completely freezing up. Though we still have much to do, more difficult paths to traverse, explore, and hopefully save and protect. And I see that Error interrupted you once again. That's a bit unfortunate, he's being chaotic as always."

"Yeah, that was an interruption we definitely didn't need nor want." Ink sighed while shaking his head. "Luckily I managed to get there before too much damage was done. A few minutes later and I wouldn't be sure that I would competently stop him in time."

"glad to hear it. that error guy is certainly a pain...a pain far too powerful to underestimate in any way." Sans said with a sigh while scratching the top of his skull. "so? what's next? what are we gonna do now? next au?"

"I'm deciding that as we speak. Don't worry." Core Frisk nodded as they were searching through different universes that were at high risk of freezing. "Hopefully we can find one that may be easy for you to handle, but given how tables can easily turn in the blink of an eye, I don't wish to get that specific hope up."

As Core Frisk was searching, Asgore was approached by Asriel, Frisk and Chara. Obviously Asriel would be the first to approach him, lightly raising his paws up as Asgore picked him up and held him in his arms. "Howdy, Son. As you can see, I've been successful in my endeavor. Speaking with you and Toriel in the Asundertale Universe did help my mood in a few ways that I can definitely appreciate."

"Well...I'm glad yo hear it, Dad. I was getting really worried about you and how you would be doing." Asriel said with a nervous smile while acknowledging his father's success. "Are...are you sure you're okay? With the history that specific universe holds, it would seem that you don't get much of a break there either. And that's a bit unfair if you ask me. It's beginning to look like it doesn't matter where you go, you just don't seem to catch a break." Toriel frowned at this, mostly towards herself. And as a result, she turned away even more than before hugging her arms and closing her eyes tightly.

"Do not worry, my son. In all honesty, it truly isn't that bad. My other self seems to have adjusted to being a flower for the most part. Annoyed with it at best, but definitely not something terribly bad. And everyone there seems determined to eventually return me to how that Asgore used to be. And with this resolve in mind, they carry it with them for a peaceful life on the Surface. I admire it very much, and hope that they find success and greatness in their future endeavors."

"Still, the fact that you went through all of that stuff at all, it's more than enough to make us feel uneasy and upset." Chara said while turning their head towards Toriel, who hugged her arms and looked further away. _It seems that mother is highly affected by what's happened, yet doesn't seem to know how to deal with it at the moment. Well, at the very least, she's lost a great deal of her overbearing spite...that's definitely a start._

Papyrus stretched a bit while adjusting his scarf, standing next to Undyne. "I STILL CANNOT BELIEVE THAT THE UNDERSWAP VERSION OF ME CASUALLY SMOKES IN A DAILY BASIS. DOESN'T HE KNOW THAT SMOKING IS MOST CERTAINLY NOT GOOD FOR HIM? IT'S BAD FOR THE LUNGS!"

"...Papyrus. You don't have lungs. So the same applies for him as well." Undyne deadpanned slightly.

"WELL EVEN WITH THAT FACTOR IN HAND, HE'S STILL SENDING A RATHER IRRESPONSIBLE MESSAGE FOR THE YOUTH. AS WELL AS HIS BROTHER, WHICH HIS SANS...HUH. NOW THAT I THINK ABOUT IT, THAT WAS _REALLY_ WEIRD, SO SEE SANS SO ENERGETIC, UP AND ABOUT, AND CHEERFUL. ONCE WE SAVED HIM FROM ERROR SANS, HE WAS EXTREMELY GRATEFUL AND THANKED US WITH A RATHER BIG SMILE."

"It's definitely strange to see Sans not being lazy...and it's even stranger to see _Papyrus_ being lazy. But then again, what's weird for us may be normal for them, so it's not like statements like that are concrete." Undyne shrugged. "That version of Alphys is definitely something, though. She's most of the things that I am, which is pretty amazing if I can comment on that."

"I agree..." Alphys nodded while twiddling her fingers and blushing. As nice as that version of Alphys was, Classic Alphys was a bit embarrassed by her praise...the vocal and physical parts of the praise. It was...strange, to say the least.

"Alright, I think I found two." Core Frisk nodded. "The First one is Papytale...that's pretty self-exclamatory, actually."

"...I THINK I WOULD LIKE TO VOLUNTEER FOR THAT UNIVERSE. I BELIEVE MY ASSISTANCE IS BEST THERE!~" Papyrus exclaimed confidently. Core Frisk didn't object, it did seem to be the one that would best benefit Papyrus and better suit his need to help. It may be in danger of freezing, but it might also be the safest for him to handle alone.

"Alright...for the next...ColossalTale." Core Frisk started out.

"Oh man...I think I have an idea of what that might be..." Alphys said while clasping her paws in worry. She was pretty sure she heard of a video game involving the word 'Colossal' and for instinctive reasons, she outright refused to play it. She didn't know why, but she might have an answer for it now.

"This one is particularly dangerous, so I'll be sending Asriel, Asgore, Sans, Chara, Undyne there. I warn you now. STICK. TOGETHER. You'll greatly regret it if you don't." Core Frisk warned gently. "Alright. get going as soon as you can. Don't delay.'

"Right." Asgore nodded. Ink painted the portals towards their next destinations. Papyrus moved into the portal leading to Papytale, while the other five moved into the one that would lead to Papytale. Once the portal closed, Ink twirled his brush and sheathed it, lowering his head and folding his arms.

 _...Why am I getting a bad feeling that our good luck streak is about to end...?_

* * *

 **Papytale and ColossalTale. One is ridiculous, and another is even more so. Still, Ink has a pretty good sense on omens. Their lucky streak is about to be interrupted, one way or another.**

 **But which one will be subjected to this...? It's a very, very worrying thought. So we'll wait to find out together, readers.**


	18. All Papyrus, All the Time

**Hiatus...inspiration to write this story, as MUCH as I wanted to finish it, just wasn't coming to me. I really hate it when that happens. But now it's back, as short as the chapter is, it's pretty much the length I want it to be.**

 **Also..SURELY this is the best AU, right guys? All Papyrus, all the time!**

* * *

Papyrus landed energetically on his feet, taking a brief look at his surroundings. It would appear that he ended up in Snowdin of all places, though this wasn't necessarily a bad thing. Not at all. It simply means that he would know where he was going and be able to proceed at a much more stable pace. And he heard that this 'Papytale' AU was basically all about him, right down to the last monster. Such a concept seemed very alien to him, and admittedly a bit strange to think about as a whole...but that certainly didn't mean that he wasn't going to take part in it.

Oh know. He felt like he could really enjoy himself here. AND complete his important mission. Bonus! So much loving bonuses for him!

He hurried right along Snowdin Forest, his scarf fluttering in the win and the cold sticking to his skin...wait. He didn't have skin. He was a skeleton.

This was rather conflicting for the great Papyrus but he did not have much time for that. Right now, he needed to continue along with his current mission. And that mission was to save this world by making sure nothing ruins it's peaceful path.

He eventually did reach Snowdin after much trekking and much slight thinking. He then lets out a resounding gasp as he sees the sight before him. When they said that everyone in this AU looked like Papyrus they were absolutely NOT bluffing.

Papyruses were everyone. There were big Papyruses, small Papyruses, adult Papyruses, child Papyruses, many kinds of Papyrus were all over the place, walking around Snowdin with various amounts of cheer and clear. Matching scarves, matching outfits-as close as they an get, anyway-and even matching battle bodies. And with this expectation, there might even be matching personalities. In short, this universe was all about him, from various perspectives.

But then he saw something quite significant: There was no smell of grease coming from Grillby's. Only the smell of freshly made spaghetti.

This.

World.

Is.

 _ **AMAZING!**_

"NYEHEHEHEHEHE!"

"NYEHEHEHEHEHE! GOOD DAY TO YOU!"

"GOOD DAY TO YOU AS WELL!"

"NYEH!"

"NYEH!"

"NYEHEEEEEEHEHE!~"

"NNNNNYEHEHEHE!~"

Yes. The Great Papyrus was very sure that he would greatly like this world. This was quite a great opportunity. There wasn't any world he could really consider as amazing as this one. He would be honored to save a world dedicated to himself. He soon began moving again, and made his way towards his house, opening it after politely knocking a few times and getting a clear indication to enter. The first thing he noticed baffled him quite immensely: a small version of himself...and he was Sans-sized.

Could this really be...? His brother, Papyrus-rized?

...Was that even a word?

Probably not. It should be, though. Add it to the dictionary, it'll be amazing.

"...HEY, BROTHER! WE HAVE OURSELVES A VISITORS!" Despite being such a short skeleton, he still admitted quite a loud and confident voice, even though it was a bit lower to emphasize it was still Sans. Moments later, the next Papyrus comes forth, and this one was his identical. The Papyrus of this Papyrus world.

"AH! HELLO THERE, VISITOR! HOW ARE YOU ON THIS FINE DAY?"

"I'M DOING QUITE FINE, THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR ASKING!" Papyrus-Classic Papyrus-said with a grin. "AND MUST I SAY, YOU LOOK INCREDIBLY AMAZING, DEAR FRIEND!"

"AND YOU AS WELL, HANDSOME!~"

"BEAUTIFUL!~"

"MAJESTIC!"

"PRESTIGIOUS!"

"NYEH!~"

"NYEHEH!~"

They all laughed rather uproariously, at least for a little while. They eventually calmed down and moved towards the kitchen. Where, to his great surprise, he found quite a few more friends he recognized, but were now Papyrus.

Papy!Undyne.

Papy!Alphys.

Papy!Mettaton.

And Papy!Monster Kid.

 _SO MANY GLORIOUS VERSIONS OF ME..._

"PAPYRUS, WE HAVE ANOTHER VISITOR!" Papy!Undyne grinned at said visitor while standing up and looking rather excited. "IS HE STRONG? KIND SIR, WOULD YOU BE INTERESTED IN A FRIENDLY SPAR? A FRIENDLY COMPARISON OF FIGHTING ABILITY? IT'S COMPLETELY ALRIGHT IF YOU DECLINE, OF COURSE!"

"A-AT LEAST YOU'RE L-LEARNING THAT FRIENDLY SPARS ARE R-RESERVED FOR TRAINING TIMES..."

"AH. ANOTHER BEAUTIFUL FACE. WONDERFUL DARLING, WONDERFUL. WOULD YOU BE INTERESTED IN HAVING QUITE AN APPEARANCE ON MY SHOW?"

"NYOH! SO COOL!"

Papyrus scratched the back of his skull and laughed slightly. For some reason, seeing how he talks outside of his own body...it's rather funny to hear and watch with a pleasant smile. He really sees how much he can brighten up a room just by being within it. And with so many Papyruses in one place, the room might as well be bathed in light to signify just how positive everyone is when they're all him. Seeing how he sees the world. It was quite a fun thought to have.

"WELL THEN VISITOR. WHAT BRINGS YOU HERE?"

"I'M SIMPLY HERE FOR A BIT OF TRAVELING PURPOSES. AND TO HELP SAVE AS MANY PEOPLE AS I CAN BY MAKING SURE THEY'RE ALL HAPPY AND FREE. WILL YOU ALL BE MOVING TO THE SURFACE SOON?"

"WHY YES INDEED! WE'VE BEEN MAKING QUITE A LOT OF PROGRESS WITH PACKING. WE WERE EVEN ABLE TO PICK OUR SETTLEMENTS RATHER EFFECTIVELY SIMPLY BY ASKING POLITELY. THE HUMANS UP ABOVE ARE MUCH NICER THAN EXPECTED!"

"OF COURSE! THE HUMANS ARE ALL RATHER KIND AND SUPPORTIVE OF OUR MASSIVE MIGRATION! OF COURSE IT WILL TAKE A LOT OF TIME AND PATIENCE, BUT I BELIEVE THAT WE'LL EVENTUALLY BE ABLE TO MOVE ONTO THE SURFACE AND MOVE INTO OUR NEW HOMES."

"FANTASTIC!" Classic Papyrus grinned while nodding readily. This was actually quite great, to be honest. It seems that everything was going rather well here, and mostly without any kind of incidents. It seems like there was no need to worry about this universe. Still, it was better safe than sorry, so he'll stay a bit longer just to be extra sure that everything would be fine. "WELL, IF YOU ALL DO NOT MIND, WILL YOU HAVE ME STAY A BIT LONGER, AS YOUR GUEST?"

"OF COURSE! YOU'RE FREE TO STAY FOR AS LONG AS YOU FEEL THE NEED TO. WHAT WE PRACTICE MORE THAN ANYTHING WITHIN OUR HOMES, IS HOSPITALITY!~" The main Papyrus of this universe grinned and clapped his hands. "WELL THEN! NOW THAT WE HAVE A FELLOW GUEST, HOW ABOUT WE HAVE SOME SPECIAL DINNER?"

"IS IT SPAGHETTI?"

*GASP!* YOU FIGURED IT OUT SO EASILY! YOU'RE QUITE A GENIUS!"

"THANK YOU! NYEH!~"

More of his signature laughter rang through the house, as they all sit themselves down as they helped each other make the spaghetti. Papyrus was feeling very accomplished. This was not only an easy mission, but it was a mission that was greatly within his element. Such is the skill and wisdom of the Great papyrus, of COURSE he would succeed!

...So then...why was he getting a bad feeling...? It didn't even come out of nowhere, but it has been gradually building itself up, and now he could no longer simply push it aside as much as he unconsciously did. What was going to happen here?

Whatever it is...it didn't feel like it would be good.

* * *

 **Papy is having a bad feeling for a good reason...what could it be...?**

 **Until next time.**


	19. A Quick Yet Desperate Rescue

Papyrus has been doing rather well in Papytale. There have been no serious incidents and there has been no signs of the AU freezing. Even though it was a relatively easy AU to manage, he was still quite proud of himself for defending an AU that is basically all about him. Failing this certain AU surely could have been difficult on him, but luckily there was no serious danger checking up on things and making sure things would stay smooth for the most part.

And overall, this has been a major success for him, and he was greatly proud of himself. Though even with this soft feeling...he felt as if something was missing. Gravely missing from his life. While it's definitely nice to see so many variations of himself through his friends...it didn't feel very fulfilling after he took some time to truly take it in. Basically he was seeing himself all the time...though that was it. He simply saw variations of himself everywhere. While he thought it was a dream come true...they weren't truly the friends that he knows.

It was strange to admit. But he just didn't find it matching the fulfillment he feels when he proves himself to his friends, who all have different personalities and different mindsets, and different values apart from his own. It was easy for him to agree with himself, he does that almost all of the time. But that was just it. In a world like this, he would always be agreeing with himself because everyone here IS him. And something about that didn't ring well with him. The sense of accomplishment is lessened when it's basically multiple versions of himself praising him, instead of his different friends acknowledging his accomplishments despite their different values.

When he thinks about it like that...it's definitely difficult to accept. But he will, because it's the truth. He wants to be acknowledged by his many other friends other than just himself. That's where he finds true fulfillment, in a way.

"Papyrus!"

The lanky skeleton jumped a bit, surprised as he looked behind him. A multi-colored paint portal appeared from in front of him, and Ink jumped in with a slide. His own eye lights seemed urgent, Papyrus understanding the seriousness. "We've got trouble, Paps! I need you to come with me right away!"

"W-WHAT IS IT, INK? WHAT'S THE MATTER?!" Papyrus asked, snapping out of his thoughts as the painter made himself known to Papyrus.

"It's a bad time, Papyrus. There's _another_ Papytale close to this one, and it's in serious danger, AND under attack by Error! Core Frisk wants us to get there as soon as we possibly can before too much damage can be done!"

"T-THERE'S ANOTHER ONE?! THAT'S NOT GOOD AT ALL!" Papyrus said in a bit of a panic. This was terrible. Two universes have the same name with different concepts, and he was in the one that _wasn't_ in any danger! How could this have happened?!

"Don't blame yourself, Papyrus. Not only is it not your fault, we don't really have time for the blame game anyway. We have to get moving, right now!" Ink said hurriedly as he swiped his brush a few times which manifested a paint portal, which the both of them jumped through.

They both hoped they weren't too late...

 **{Papytale}**

The Asriel of this universe is also very different from his classic version. He actually took the place of Toriel in this universe, and as such he tends to act quite a bit like her. He even wore robes, but instead they were yellow and green-themed instead of violet and blue. And as always, Asriel was quite fluffy, and incredibly kind.

His main companion was Frisk, who took the place of Sans, always taking position behind the door so the two of them could exchange as much cringe-worthy puns as they please. They've grown quite close to one another, to the point that they would trust each other with their lives after exchanging knowledge of each others lives after exchanging private information about one another. They were best friends.

And finally there was Papyrus. He was the one who was adventuring through the Underground, with the guidance of Frisk and Asriel. he wasn't sure how he got here, just that he really needed to help as many monsters as he could, without delay, as skeleton monsters were mostly on the surface. He has become friendly with Asriel and Frisk, and relied on them to move forward. As such, he was glad to call them friends.

As such, he was feeling trapped in a corner as he was battered and injured to the brink of death. Asriel and Frisk were standing in front of him, trying their best to protect him. And the ones they were protecting him from was the dangerous entity bent on their deaths.

Error Sans.

 **"Hehehe...you three are becoming quite the eyesore...it's far too bad that you've tried to get in my way. You reist far too much for my preference."** Error Sans grinned madly.

"We're not...going to let you hurt him...anymore!" Asriel grunted while his paws remained ignited with flames, even though he was on the brink of falling to his knees. Frisk was the same, with their blasters still hovering behind them, yet they looked like they were on their last legs as well. It was clear that this battle was nothing short of completely exhausting. They were both trying their best, and they certainly wouldn't can't. They were stuck within Snowdin with no sign of support coming for them, having been blocked by a wall of blue threads.

 **"Too bad. I plan to do far worse than actually hurting him. And you tiresome glitches."** Error said glaringly while hi Error Blasters began charging up, while Frisk glared and began charging their own blasters in order to counter. **"Time to die..."**

" _STOOOOOOOOOP IIIIIITTTTT!~_ "

 **"What t-"** Error began, though he gasped as Classic Papyrus suddenly jumped out of the paint portal and landed right in front of the terrified trio. Ink appeared seconds afterwards and swiped at him with his brush, causing Error to pull back in order to barely dodge. **"You have _got_ to be kidding me! I swear, that stupid core being omniscient is such a pain...!" **

"That's enough, Error! Give yourself up or get lost!" Ink demanded as he narrowed his eye sockets dangerously. "Move any closer, _**and you REALLY won't like what happens next.**_ "

Error pondered his options for a moment, seeing that Ink was more serious than usual, and Papyrus looked prepared to fight with everything he has as well. After a while, Error shook his head and firmly backed off. **"Damn you, Ink. One of these days, I'm not gonna let you interfere with me any longer. You do well to remember that."**

"I'm warning you to surrender or leave." Ink repeated himself, leaving no room for compromise. Error scoffed as he pulled back and disappeared into the Anti-Void. Ink huffed as he sheathed his paintbrush and turned towards Papytale!Asriel, Frisk, and Papyrus. "Are you three alright? I hope he didn't hurt you too badly."

"N-No. We're fine." Asriel mumbled after taking a bit of time to calm down. He soon turned towards him and bowed politely. "Thank you for saving us, kind soul. We honestly thought we were done for."

"yeah. thanks for the save." Frisk said after falling on their butt and taking a very needed breather. That was a tough battle they didn't expect to live through, but they're immensely glad they did.

Papytale!Papyrus looked towards Classic Papyrus, standing up and brushing himself off after a bit of recovery. "YOU'RE QUITE A HANDSOME SKELETON."

"AS TO YOU, GOOD SIR!"

"BUT DO TELL ME, WHAT IN THE WORLD HAPPENED JUST NOW?"

Ink, having finally relaxed his guard, smiled and rubbed the back of his skull. "That's..heh...a bit of a complex story, you see..."

It was a very close call. But at least they were safe for now.

* * *

 **It was a very close save, but they managed it. Core Frisk reacts fast.**

 **We'll check up on the others in Colossaltale in the next chapter.**

 **See ya soon!~**


	20. Colossal Cuteness?

**Ah yes. ColossalTale. The Undertale AU to a pretty great yet somber game, Shadow of the Colossus.**

 **One would expect such a world our heroes are now thrown in to be exceptionally dangerous, untrustworthy, a-**

 **...W-What?! What do you mean cute?! There's nothing cute about this!**

 **...Right?**

 **Chapter Start!**

* * *

"What...the heck...is going on here...?"

See, Chara was expecting a lot of things when coming into this universe. They expected danger which was definitely here. They expected the others to be just a little bit scattered, which wasn't nearly as bad as the first time. It was just a few feet away from one another this time. Sans had the unfortunate pleasure of landing so hard that he was buried halfway into the dirt headfirst, making it a bit embarrassing as Undyne was quick to pull him out. After a few brushoffs and a bit of worrying from Asgore, everyone agreed that in terms of actually getting into the universe safely, this wasn't too bad an entrance.

Now...what they _weren't_ expecting...was both the beautiful scenery before them...and the beautiful creature that was currently in front of them. What really caught the off-guard was the identity of who the creature was.

This was clearly Toriel. ColossalTale!Toriel, to be exact. Asgore and Asriel were able to recognize her at first glance. Especially the fiery glow within her eye. Though it was also mostly due to the somewhat small horns and large floppy ears. And obviously the absolute super-fuzziness of her fur, fitting for a Colossus.

Undyne blinked in complete awe as she looked upwards with a whistle. "Hot damn...that's...that's..."

"one big momma?"

"I'm gonna smack you in a minute."

Asgore sighed as he gazed up at the maternal creature, softly shaking his head. Even in this universe, Toriel had this sort of beauty around her. In this aspect, the beauty is from the majestic feeling that surrounds ColossalTale!Toriel's form. Such a beautiful creature outside, and very much in, he was fully confident about. She was just gazing about at the moment, not really acknowledging the heroes, simply bending down and picking up a few things to eat...like...a giant snail.

...Of course.

Sans scratched the back of his neckbone for a bit, sighing. "drat. i was gonna say we should split up and try to cover more ground...but this place is so damn huge. even if i costantly teleport us around, we won't be able to cover that much ground. i'll tire out incredibly quick trying to cover that much ground."

"Yet it'll take even longer if we stick to traveling on foot...geez. Plus, Core Frisk said that we HAVE to stick together. And sense our other friends are most certainly like this, following that advice is the wisest choice regarding that." Chara pointed out. "Though that does definitely leave one very important question in need of answers...how are we going to get around quicker than going on foot? Because that's just gonna take forever and that kind of time isn't on our side."

"then...what do we do...?"

Asriel thought about this for a moment, wondering what they could all do to simplify their objective, at least a little bit. Then after a moment of hesitant indecision, he came up with an idea that might just be crazy enough to work. Or at the very least, get things started. While the adults were speaking, Asriel chose to move up to the Colossus version of his mother, stopping just several feet away from her. Nodding to himself, he took a deep breath and then:

 _"HELLLOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO?"_

The adults stopped conversing, and were now just staring at Asriel as if he'd grown a second head. ColossalTale!Toriel heard the shout, even though it was quite miniscule a sound to her due to her size. She slowly turned her head and looked down towards the one that called for her. Asriel looked up towards her with an anxious wave. Curious, ColossalTale!Toriel gently lowered her head as far as it can go so she was right next to him, curiously tilting her head towards him, lightly sniffing him. Said sniffing caused a few strong breezes with each sniff, and Asriel had to really try not to fall off of his feet. After she was done, she sounds out what at first appears to be a growl that emitted throughout the entire area, with her maw opening wide and her breathing out causing another slight breeze against him...the others were baffled as the Colossus then gives Asriel the gentlest of licks that she could give with her size, and the growling soon turned into murring.

Asriel laughed a bit as the lick had him landing on his rear a bit, before he manages to get back up, jump high, and lightly hug her snout. The murring increases even further because of this, as her entire demeanor seemed to grow happier. Even if he wasn't _really_ hers, she could recognize her child. "Hehe...even as a super giant likely with no ability to speak, you're still really nice, aren't you Mom?" In response to this, the Colossus reached her large paw over and lightly picked Asriel from her snout, as he now sits idly on her giant paw. She blinked softly at him for several moments, before she leaned closer and very gently nuzzled her snout against the much smaller Asriel. He smiled and did what he could to return it. He could tell he was successful, as the volume of the murring steadily increased again.

Asriel was officially cuddling a Colossus version of his mother. He swore he could hear a silenced voice of Core Frisk going 'Awwww!' at the sight.

The others were watching this, completely left in awe. "...Am...Am I really seeing this...?" Undyne muttered as she rubbed her eye for a bit before looking again, blinking owlishly. "I mean, I didn't expect for this to be so easy."

"i think it's mainly because she recognizes asriel as her son, alternate version or not." Sans said with a cautious nod. "i'm not trying to nitpick and say colossi are dumb, but it seems this is based more on instinct than an actual thought process. she recognizes the scent of a child that's somewhat related to her own, so now she feels an immediate connection."

"Hmm..." Asgore nodded while rubbing his chin, gazing up at the duo with a soft, solemn smile. It made him wonder, certainly there was a version of himself somewhere, and he wondered where he might be. It was likely that the Colossi versions of them didn't really wander too far out of their respective territories unless they wanted to. They're likely not restricted to those places, with the possible exception of ColossalTale!Undyne.

After their brief cuddling, Asriel pulled back from the Colossus and tried his best to talk to her. "Mom! I don't know if you can understand me or not, but we need your help!" Asriel began, lightly gesturing to his friends and father. "We can't really go for traveling on foot because there won't be enough time for it! Do you think you'll be able to give us all a hand with traveling? We'll very much appreciate it if you do!"

"He's actually trying to talk to her..." Chara muttered. Don't get them wrong. If anyone can manage this at their first try, it was Asriel. That didn't mean they couldn't still feel anxious about it though.

Toriel the Colossus slowly looked over to the remaining group members, who froze a bit under her gaze. She slowly leaned her head down to their level, and also sniffed them curiously. Unlike Asriel, Sans actually couldn't stay on his feet, and promptly face-planted, eliciting a laugh from Chara and Undyne for a second. She promptly stops and turns her head towards Asriel, who smiles and gently pats her snout. "it's okay. They're good, I promise." Asriel gently reassured her, nuzzling her giant snout slightly. With a resound murr, ColossalTale!Toriel turned towards the group again, reached her paw out to them and scooped them all up at once, lifting her paw until she set them all atop her head, Asriel included. He gently pets the top of her head for this, gaining another positive murr from her. "Thank you, Mom! Now we have to get to work as quickly as we can! Do you think you can take us out of these ruins?" Not too long after he asks this, Toriel slowly stands up, and begans moving out of the Ruins in a slightly sluggish but disciplined manner, her footsteps resounding throughout the area.

"...alright then. i can cross off 'hitching a ride on a colossus' off my bucket list." Sans quipped. "so prince, got a plan past this?"

"Sort of. I mean, it's self-explanatory but still pretty important." Asriel anxiously said before he kept his eyes forward and narrowed. "First thing's first...we have to find the Frisk of this world, and quickly. I've got a feeling they're gonna be the key to saving this specific universe."

Asriel knew they needed to be hasty so they could prevent the universe freezing. Though he also wanted to hurry because he feared that the Frisk of this world was in very serious danger.

...and he was certain it wasn't due to the colossi.

* * *

 **Welp,I finally got this chapter done. Now we're gonna see exactly what's endangering ColossalTale!Frisk if it won't be the Colossi. Because really, that entire game can be interpreted in SO many ways, mine is just one of many.**

 **I didn't expect to write that Colossus interaction so positively. I didn't. Really. But there it is. Asriel and a Colossus version of his mother being all cute and stuff.**

 **You're welcome.**

 **...No seriously, thanks for reading, and await the next chapter.~**


End file.
